Past Crime, Present Doubt, Future Reckoning
by Morlin
Summary: There's a reason they fear her. She's done terrible things in the past and now one of her victims has come back for revenge. Will Evangeline accept the punishment that she deserves or will she fight a battle that threatens all of Mahora Academy?
1. Wait

**Author's notes**: A few notes before we begin.

1. I do not own Mahou Sensei Negima or any of the characters associated with said series. The onyl thing I could make any kind of ownership claim to is the OC in this story and the story idea itself. This is the only time I'm going to say this in this fan fiction.

2. This story came to me from two desires. I wanted to write a big hookin battle fic and I wanted to write a story about my very favourite Negima character of all time. Evangeline Athanasia Kathrine McDowell. So I put the two together and got this.

3. The first two chapters will set everything up. After that I'll get to the main part of this story. The big hookin battle. So please be a little patient on that part.

With that said the story proper can begin. Please enjoy.

* * *

**Wait**

"_You monster!" The girl screamed at the shadowed figure__ standing in front of her with its back turned. "I'll never forgive you for this and I swear that I'll find a way to make you pay! Do you hear me?! I'll have you killed if it's the last thing I do!"_

_The object of the girl's contempt turned around and stared at her with uncaring eyes._

"_If that's how you wish to spend the remainder of your life then do so. It's none of my concern." The creature known as Dark Evangel said and took of into the sky, not paying any attention to the angry and sorrow filled screams behind her._

* * *

Evangeline woke up with a jolt. She blinked as she realised she was still in the classroom were the son of the one man she had once held dear was looking for volunteers to recite a Shakespeare sonnet. Nobody seemed to have noticed her dozing off, or that it was for the eighth time this week it had happened. That suited her just fine as she reached into her desk and picked out a small calendar. She flipped through the pages which were left untouched by her or anyone else until she came to the current month. On the day after this one she had drawn a red circle.

"_Hm, and it's on the night of a fullmoon as well. Lucky me._" She thought and stood up.

"Ah, master... I mean, Evangeline-san. Do you want to translate the sonnet for us?" Negi asked with a startled voice. Evangeline usually didn't do much during class.

"No." She answered simply and walked through the classroom. "I'm feeling ill so I'm going home." The statement got more reactions than she wanted.

Negi ranted on with a panicked voice. "You're not feeling well? Is there anything I can do? Do you want somebody to go with you to the nurse's office?"

"Do you need me to accompany you master?" Chachamaru asked monotonously.

"I can help you Eva-chan. I'm getting good at fixing remedies for all kinds of diseases." Konoka kindly offered.

"We have a newly developed treatment to battle common cold if you're interested!" Satomi shouted with excitement.

"…" Zazie commented.

Evangeline didn't respond to any of them until she reached and opened the classroom door. "Just leave me alone." It lacked the usual punch she'd put into everything she said. But she didn't bother with it and slammed the door shut on her way out.

The corridors of Mahora Academy were completely empty at the moment as the sound of teachers teaching and the students not listening was heard all around the shinso vampire. She clearly wasn't walking back to her forest cottage. Instead she headed further into the academy until she reached the art classroom.

Without any forewarning she opened the door and got the attention of Takahata Takamichi and the ogling girls he was teaching. Evangeline didn't care about the latter. "I need to speak to you and the old man about something important. Now come with me." She demanded and left.

Normally Takahata wouldn't just up and leave in the middle of a class, but Evangeline seemed to be behaving kind of odd. And something that could do that to Evangeline certainly merited a little extra attention.

He addressed the class. "I'll be gone for a short while girls. In my absence I want you to form groups of three or four and discuss the foundations of the impressionistic era in art." He was met with loud protests. "Please." He said with a dazzling smile and everything was fine as he left to follow Evangeline.

"Are all your classes that vapid in their heads?" She questioned once he caught up to her.

"That's a rather unfair assessment considering that you haven't met them you know." He countered.

"Maybe." She muttered. For the rest of the walk to the dean's office they were silent.

Once they reached their destination Evangeline once again ignored knocking before she barged in. "We need to talk." She said before the dean of the academy could open his mouth and sat down in a chair in front of his desk. Takahata met the deans confused eyes with a shrug before closing the door and stood beside it.

"You know, I'd appreciate it if you at least knocked before coming in here like this." Konoemon said with a friendly voice.

"You've hired me as the security guard of this school and for once there's a threat that would actually require my attention. So forgive me if I skip on certain customs of etiquette." The short blonde said seriously.

Konoemon raised an eyebrow. He noticed that there was something different about Evangeline. She was less… gleeful than usual. He disregarded it for the moment to listen to what she had to say. "Very well. What threat is it you're talking about and how is it any different than the other ones you've failed to counter or inform me of ever since Negi-san's arrival at this school?"

Evangeline sighed. "The threats you're referring to where all handled by… capable people and didn't need me interfering with them. The thing that's coming on the other hand is quite different. I'm the only one here that can fight it. Besides that all you need to know is that after tomorrow night there will be a great need of reconstruction across the academy area."

Konoemon and Takahata waited for further explanation. But Evangeline remained silent.

"Do you have any other information regarding this threat?" Takahata asked politely.

"Yes." Evangeline answered unabashed. "However, before I divulge it, I want both of you to do a few favours for me." She had a rather business like tone when she said that.

This demand made Konoemon hesitate a little. "Eh, would you mind at least telling us why you seem so invested in the situation? The way you're acting makes me suspect that it goes beyond your guard duty."

Evangeline thought for a few moments and then shrugged. "Why not? It will probably make it easier for you adhere to my demands if you understood what was going on here."

Her expression darkened. "I warn you though. It is not a very pleasant story."

* * *

Hours later Evangeline walked back home and noticed how bored she was. She blamed it on the wait. Most people got exited and restless when they were forced to wait for things. Evangeline got bored. She really wished that there was somebody she could restyle right now. Preferably with those red fishnet-pantyhose, lovely purple gown and black mourning veil she just got in the mail.

"Master." Chachamaru's voice suddenly rang out in her head. Evangeline looked up and saw that she had arrived at her cottage without noticing it. Her robot-servant was standing at the front with a small pile of papers in her hands. "Negi-sensei sent me to hand over these homework assignments and notes about lessons over the coming week in the case that you are so ill that you may not come to class tomorrow and…" She stopped when she noticed her master's eyes gleaming with joy.

"Yeah, yeah, nobody cares about that. What would you say if we got you into some more interesting clothes and showed them off all over campus?" It was hard to tell if it was a question or an order.

"I assume that this has something to do with the package you received two days ago." Chachamaru answered.

"Maybe." Evangeline said her patented mix of terrifying evil and childish excitement. "Now, let's not waste time talking out here when we could be inside making you look oh so charming."

It wasn't that Chachamaru minded being used as a dress up doll, it put a rare smile on her master's face. But right now she had more serious reasons for coming here. "I would rather talk about the problem that is bothering you master."

Evangeline's eyes widened slightly but she kept her cool. "Problem. What problem?"

"You claimed that you were sick and that you were going back here. But you were not here when I arrived, as far as I can see you are feeling well and you've been having troubled moments of sleep in class this week. With these facts in mind I would say that you were lying earlier, master." She spoke with her usual voice so there was nothing accusatory about what she said, she was just listing observations. "It is rare to see you lie about anything as you are usually very upfront about what you think and feel. So I assume that there is a reason for you to lie and that it would entail a problem of some sort."

Evangeline glared dully at her servant. It discomforted Chachamaru, but it did not deter her. "Would you mind telling me what it is that is bothering you, master?" Silence reigned between the two unusual girls for a few moments before Evangeline stomped past the robot and up the steps of her house.

"I won't be coming in to school at all tomorrow, inform the brat of this."

"Yes master. What about dressing me up?" The robot asked.

"Forget it; I'm not in the mood anymore." Evangeline answered with a grumpy voice.

Chachamaru was about to leave when she heard Evangeline opening the front door but stopped when her master addressed her directly again. "Whatever kind of problem you think I have, it is nothing you need to concern yourself with."

A moment of hesitation.

"Yes master." Evangeline slammed the door shut behind her and Chachamaru walked off into the woods, unaware that Evangeline was observing her through a window. When her servant was out of sight the vampire went up to her bedroom where the currently inanimate Chachazero had been positioned so that she could look out from the window.

"You know that she's probably calling the boy and his team by now." She said with mirth as her limp head hung to the side.

"Yeah, they're probably having some stupid conversation about whether they should use the word 'over' at the end of each message or something like that." The blonde vampire answered with a light smirk and followed it up with a mumble. "Idiots."

"That's what happens when you grow into a big softie for them." Chachazero teased. She was ignored as Evangeline picked out a book and sat down on her bed. "Oh well," The puppet sighed. "At least you'll get to show your old colours again soon enough."

At this Evangeline peeked up from her book. "So you're aware of it too." Chachazero would've nodded if she could. "You know I won't take you with me."

"That doesn't matter. I'll get a front row seat some other way." The puppet almost laughed. "I think it's good for you to be properly reminded of what you've done. It helps to keep you from becoming too much of wuss you know."

"Yeah, I suppose that you're right." Evangeline said as she refocused on her book. "After all, I am evil."

Although she didn't say anything Chachazero noted that there was less certainty in the statement than usual. To some extent that worried her, but to a much larger extent she figured that it would make tomorrow night all the more interesting.

* * *

The next day all seemed quiet at Mahora academy. Students went to classes and teachers tried to teach the students that were looking out at the sunny day that came equipped with the customary singing birds and beautiful flowers.

Over at Evangeline's house all was quiet and except for a few rare movements in the windows you wouldn't know if the owner was inside or not. The mood was actually rather tranquil. However, when the faint noise, due to the distance, of the school bell was heard it only took a few minutes before the lady of the house exited and left the premises for unknown destinations.

Once it was safe, meaning once Evangeline was far enough away, four shapes jumped out of the trees, and crashed into each other as they fell into a heap on the ground.

"Ow. I told you it wasn't a good idea to wait in the trees." Kasumi Asakura, the top reporter of class 4A groaned.

"If we waited on the ground she would've noticed us." Haruna Saotome, Mahora's resident rumourmonger, countered with a pained voice as she straightened herself out.

"It would probably still have been a good idea to bring someone more physically capable as well. " Yue Ayase, booknerd #1 in class 4A, said as she rubbed her head soothingly.

"But we said that would be too many for an information-seeking mission." Nodoka Miyazaki, booknerd #2, reminded Yue as she dusted off herself and picked up a diary she'd dropped on the ground.

"That's right!" Haruna said exuberantly as she grabbed her two friends in headlocks. "This is not a job for fighters. The only ones that can accomplish operation 'find-out-what's-making-Evangeline-act-so-weird-without-her discovering-it' is us. The Library Exploration Club and Mahora Academy's greatest paparazzi reporter!" She shouted while pulling them all into a pose, Kasumi blushed in fake modesty at the praise.

Yesterday, after Chachamaru had returned from her visit at her master's house, the self-dubbed Ala Alba group, after deciding that Evangeline was even more unapproachable than usual, had tried to figure out what made the diminutive vampire act so odd. The two most popular theories were that she either had a secret love interest or that it had something to do with her past.

Once they had discovered that any form of common and respectful research would be pointless it had been decided that more intimate information gathering was required. So after some debate the abovementioned team was created and Haruna left living drawings of them all to go to class in their stead.

The quartet practically ran into the house, eager to not let their class' scariest student catch them in the act of rummaging through her home.

"Ok, here's the plan." Yue picked out a notepad, with a list written on the front page, out of her pocket. "Asakura and Haruna will search through the top floor while I and Nodoka go through the ground floor. How long do we have Nodoka?"

The purple haired girl quickly checked her pactio. "It looks like Evangeline-san intends to buy new clothes and take a tour of the campus." Nodoka said with a slightly surprised voice. It wasn't how she imagined Evangeline would spend a day.

"Aha!" Asakura shouted. "See, that right there is evidence that she has a love interest. She's buying new clothes to look good for her special person and she's touring the academy to find the most romantic places for them to spend some quality time." Nodoka and Yue stared at her sceptically while Haruna seemed to consider the idea very plausible.

"Just go upstairs and look for more concrete evidence." Yue sighed. "It should take Evangeline a few hours at most to do her errands so we'll meet up in about thirty minutes at her resort and we'll go through it as well. Make sure that everything is in the same place as when we arrived and let's do this as nicely as possible people. Now let's go!" The four girls saluted each other and spread out through the house with determination.

* * *

**9**** hours later, the classroom of class 4A**

"Have you heard anything from the investigation team yet Chachamaru-san?" Negi asked nervously as he paced back and forth in front of his desk. Class had been over since two hours ago and the exploration team was very, very late.

"Not yet Negi-sensei, sorry." Chachamaru reported, earning heavy sighs from her teacher and the girls around her.

"What the hell is going on?" Asuna asked no one in particular. "First there's that weird announcement, then Takahata-sensei whisks away Kaede, Mana and Ku Fei from the class and now this."

"I agree with Asuna." Setsuna said with a serious expression. "Too many unusual occurrences are happening at once for them to be circumstantial, and I have a hunch that it all relates to Evangeline-san."

"I told you we should just have asked Evangeline-chan what was bothering her." Konoka said with fake superiority that was poorly hidden behind her sweet smile.

"But she if she wouldn't tell Chachamaru I doubt that she'd tell the rest of us." Asuna argued.

Konoka was quick to counter. "If we had all gone at once we would've showed her that we as a group are concerned about her as our friend and that we would all stand by her in her hour of need." The rest of the group stared at Konoka with wide eyes.

"Ojou-sama, could you please say those things before we send out small groups on foolish missions." Setsuna pleaded.

"When you start calling me Konoka I will." The brunette teased her childhood friend.

At that moment Chachamaru spoke up. "I am getting a transmission from the communicator we gave to Nodoka." The other four hurried closer to clearly hear the message. When nothing was heard after one minute Negi was the first to speak.

"Nodoka-san, is that you? Please respond." A moment of silence and then Chachamaru was speaking but with Nodoka's voice.

"Sorry, Negi-sensei. She came back for her wallet. We failed." Was the sad reply that earned worried looks from all gathered.

"W-what do you mean Nodoka-san?" Negi asked, terrified of the answer.

"Boy." Chachamaru suddenly said with Evangeline's angry voice, sending chills through Negi's spine. "Who else is there with you?"

"N-n-n-nobody master." He lied. "I'm here all alone."

Another moment of silence, this one more edgy. "Who else is there besides you and the boy, Chachamaru?" Evangeline ordered.

"It is Kagurasaka Asuna, Konoe Konoka and Sakurazaki Setsuna, master." The robot answered without hesitation, earning looks of disbelief from her assembled comrades.

"Thank you. All of you are to get here within fifteen minutes or something horrible will happen to your little detectives."

It didn't take anymore persuasion than that to get both teacher and students to sprint off to save their friends.

* * *

**On**** the edge of the bridge leading outside Mahora**

For the first few flashes it was a tiny and harmless spark.

Then it started to grow.

Within minutes it became like an explosion of electricity that could engulf an entire building.

Finally, it was as if a bolt of lightning burst up from the ground and assaulted the heavens. Or was it the other way around? Nobody who saw it could be really sure.

What was certain however, was that once the phenomenon had occurred there was a person standing on the scorched ground.

The armor clearly had female proportions, and even then it was slick and slender to allow for as much movement freedom as possible. It was white as new snow with golden decorations in stylish lightning shaped patterns across her chest, arm- and leg-guards, shoulders and gauntlets. The helmet was equally white and had a simple shape with a large opening at the front and a golden edge on the top. Covering the majority of the mystery woman's face was a golden triangular mouth guard that only left the eyes visible to the outside public. The eyes themselves seemed to be made out swirling white and blue clouds of shining energy.

Lastly there was her cloak. At least, that's the best term that can be used for it. Transparent light with miniscule stars attached to it flowed in a haunting cloak like fashion behind her.

She was an intimidating yet majestic sight.

Once the stranger seemed to have gotten accustomed to her surroundings she set her sight on Mahora Academy and walked forward with slow, steady and determined steps.

**_To be continued..._**


	2. History

**Author's notes**: I just now realised that this chapter is only one scene. Oh well, it's a really good scene if you ask me. It's also shorter than the last chapter. That will not be the case with the next one. Nope, the next one is going to be a lot longer.

Besides that I don't have anything to say besides that I hope you enjoy this chapter and that you will review it after reading through it.

* * *

**History**

Negi burst into Evangeline's house, desperately screaming. "I'm here! Please don't hurt them master! I'm here!"

"I can see that." Evangeline growled. "And you're on time too, so I won't hurt anybody… yet."

"Tha…thank you master. I…" Negi finally looked up and his chin hit the floor from shock.

At that moment Asuna, Setsuna, Chachamaru and Konoka caught and barged into the house. "If you've hurt Nodoka and the others I'll kick your ass Evangelin…" Asuna stopped mid threat as she saw the situation. Setsuna blushed furiously and Konoka giggled, trying to stop herself from hugging the embarrassed girls before her.

Evangeline had dressed them all up in skimpy and revealing maid outfits, and judging from the camera on the table and the strings between the vampire's fingers and the girls' limbs she had intended to humiliate them rather than actually hurting them.

"You may go and change your clothes now. Chachazero will be keeping an eye on you." Evangeline said with a bored voice as she let the girls go.

"S-sorry, Negi-ku…"

"No talking!" Evangeline interrupted and the four girls ran into an adjacent room.

"So," The vampire turned to the five newcomers. "You have five minutes to explain, and then heads are going to roll."

"We were just worried about you and wanted to help you somehow…" Negi prattled on hurriedly.

"If you would just trust with what's going on we wouldn't have to…" Asuna accused in her usual loudmouth manner.

"We're your friends Eva-chan and we can see that there's something bothering you…" Konoka replied so sweetly that even Evangeline had trouble staying mad at her.

"I would like to apologise on behalf of the entire Ala Alba group, but please understand…" Setsuna said with a humble voice.

"I am ready to accept any punishment you deem fitting master." Chachamaru respectfully bowed her head.

The combined voices were exceedingly annoying and she was about to shut them all up and deliver some sort of punishment. But then a nagging type of feeling gained her attention. It was like someone was rhythmically scratching the back of her head and it was growing slightly stronger with each passing second. She really needed to get on with her plans for the evening.

"Whatever." She said to the group and walked to the stairs to change clothes. "I don't have time to deal with you idiots right now so go back to your rooms and do whatever dull and normal things it is that you do."

She naively thought that it would shut them up, but unfortunately these members of Ala Alba had built up tougher defences against her ordering them around.

"So you are doing something tonight. Does it have something to do with that blackout?" Asuna's statement halted Evangeline's movements and the mistress of darkness turned to the girl.

Without thinking the vampire said the first thing that came to her mind. "How did you know about the blackout?" Evangeline growled with a low voice as the four girls that had invaded her home came back, properly clothed.

Negi stepped in to answer. "There was an announcement right before lunch. The dean told us that there would be a blackout lasting from 8 pm to 3 am due to emergency maintenance. All students are required to stay inside their rooms during that time."

The entire room stared expectantly at Evangeline, waiting for her response. The shinso vampire herself was seething with frustration. She had no wish to speak about the situation with these people. Konoemon had found an annoying loophole in his promise.

"Evangeline-san," Konoka began as she took a step forward. "We know that the full moon is going to be up tonight and we've seen how strange you've been acting all week. You're worried about something and it seems like you've made preparations so that you can fight at your full strength." The tiny vampire glared slightly at the healer mage. "We're your friends. Please, just tell us what's going on."

Evangeline's eyes narrowed and she quickly walked down the stairs, past the four intruders, into the adjacent room, came back out with Chachazero, threw the living puppet onto the living room table and walked up the stairs as she yelled. "Ask her about it!"

The sound of a door slamming could be heard from above and the group refocused their attention to the haphazardously positioned Chachazero.

"So, what can I do for you annoying goody-two-shoes?" The living string-puppet asked and was picked up by the head by Asuna.

"Can you tell us what the hell is up with the old brat?" Asuna asked harshly, causing Chachazero to chuckle.

"Hehehe, old brat. That's a good one." Asuna's grip on Chachazero's head tightened. "To answer your question however, yes I can. The real dilemma is if you all want me to tell you." She said with a grin.

"What do you mean by that?" Setsuna asked as she took the puppet from Asuna and placed her in a sitting position on the living-room table for all to see.

"My master is over 500 years old and a feared criminal in the magical world." Chachazero said light-heartedly. "You all know that. But have you ever asked about her individual crimes. Like the one she committed 250 years ago."

"What crime?" Negi's voice was hesitant, like he didn't want to know where this was going.

Chachazero grinned like a kid at Christmas Eve. "It's not her nastiest piece of work, but it is cruel. You see, around 250 years ago the master had been in a battle with an ancient dragon. She won but was drained and exhausted to the point where she probably only had a day or so at the most before she'd die. As luck would have it a farmer family lived nearby and had been attracted by the commotion. When they arrived all they found was an exhausted little ten year old girl with injuries all over her body. So they took her home, patched her up and offered her food. Guess what happened."

Nobody wanted to answer, they were too afraid. Eventually Nodoka tried anyway. "S-she got a hearty meal and r-recovered her strength without h-hu-hurting anyone?"

Chachazero looked incredibly creepy sitting there completely still while laughing uncontrollably and so hard that she was unable to answer the question.

Evangeline did it for her, proving that she was a very quick dresser. "I fed off the mother first when she tried to feed me. Blood is much more energising to me than regular food." The group turned to look at the vampire, now dressed in a dark cloak with tattered ends that covered her entire body, as she walked down the stairs.

"By the time I was finished with her I had gotten a craving for it and the father just happened to walk into the room. He tried to stop me but with my strength somewhat replenished I easily took him down." Her expression was cold and harsh.

"The parents' 14 year old girl stumbled in to the room and I would've finished her off for food as well if it wasn't for the father's annoying pleading." She walked past the petrified group, stopped by the door and glanced over her shoulders. "I left the girl as she swore her vengeance upon me. At the time I didn't care about any of it. 50 years later the girl appeared before me as a spirit and attacked me. I defeated her but it didn't end there." Her voice turned darker with every word. "She always returns after half a century and she's always stronger than the time before that. I don't know what she's done to herself to achieve this or where her spirit goes after I beat her, but she is so determined to end me that she won't rest even in death."

Once again it was Nodoka who broke the silence. "A-and this is the night that she'll come back."

Evangeline turned her head away from them. "She's already here."

The tiny vampire reached for the door when yet obstacle stopped her. "Where do you think you're going?" Asuna said with a serious face.

"I'd think that it would be pretty clear what I intend to do, or would like me to draw you a picture book?" Evangeline growled.

"What I mean is that you're not going anywhere without us." The red baka ranger declared with determination. The rest of the group murmured enthusiastically in agreement. Evangeline sighed silently. "All of you are to stay out of my way tonight."

She quickly opened the door and walked out. As she had taken a few steps away from the door a hand gripped her left shoulder. "Let go Kagurasaka." She growled.

"No." The magic canceller responded firmly as the others followed her outside. "We know what you did was bad. But the person that did those things isn't you anymore. Yeah, you're a scary and mean person, but you're not evil anymore. And even though you won't admit it, we are your friends. We're not just going to let you do this by yourself." She failed to notice the vampire's rising agitation. "We can try to talk her out of it, you know tell her about the good stuff you've done and how pointless it is for her to do this. If that fails, we'll just kick her ass." She said with a confident smirk. "How about it?"

The response wasn't quite what she had expected.

Evangeline grabbed hold of Asuna's arm, pulled her off her feet, up into the air and slammed her back into the floor of the porch with so much force that the wood splintered.

The magic canceller quickly got on her feet. "What the…" Evangeline was just as quick to pinch onto Asuna's shoulder with a special nerve hold, immobilising her and forcing her to her knees. The move opened up Evangeline's cape, revealing the rest of her attire.

Besides the cape she was wearing dark fingerless gloves that reached just below her elbows with thin white bands wrapped around their entire length, tough looking black combat boots and a simple black swimsuit like outfit that had a short skirt attached to it and a grey bow adorning the chest.

"Master, please! Asuna was just trying to…" Negi was immediately silence by a cold glare from his mystic trainer.

"For such interesting persons you all sure are naive morons!" She shouted harshly to all of them, making Konoka, Kasumi and the library girls seek shelter behind Setsuna and Chachamaru.

The vampire turned to the girl at her mercy. "I'm a different person now. I've done good things." She repeated with contempt. "Do you think that any of that actually matters?!" Asuna winced in pain as Evangeline's grip tightened.

The dark mage glared at the small crowd behind her. "Sakurazaki, would you ever forgive me if I killed your precious princess so that I could survive?" Setsuna bit her own lip, not wanting to answer. "Same for our dear book nerds. If I killed two of you could the last one remaining find it in their heart to not hate me?" Again, no answer. She turned to Negi. "Even you boy. If I killed our entire class, your cousin and that childhood friend of yours, would you be able to look at me and feel anything but hatred and a need to avenge those whose life I've ended?" Negi didn't know what to say and averted his eyes away from his master's gaze.

"Didn't think so. Because that's how the world works. Sins aren't removed just because you do acts of good afterwards. It's not just for fun that I call myself evil. It's because I am evil. The only ones that can't seem to get that are you people."

She shifted her attention back to the wincing girl. "What I've done between that time and the present doesn't matter. The only thing that does matter is that Anna, yes I know her name, wants revenge and has wanted it for over 200 years, even forsaking a normal afterlife to get it. So don't come here and insult her determination when you can't even understand the situation." Her voice lowered in decibel, but not in harshness. "I ruined her life and she has every right to get even with me. In short, this is between her and me. If I find you trying to take a side in this fight, I will personally strike you down. That goes for all of you."

She released Asuna with a push and began walking away again. Nobody followed her. Well, almost nobody. "Master." Chachamaru called out as she jumped down to the vampire.

Evangeline didn't stop as she answered "Yes?" She had more patience for the robot than for most other people.

"From the way you speak of this Anna it would seem that you will need a partner to aid you in the battle." There was a silent question in the statement.

"That would be useful indeed." Chachamaru didn't let it show that her hopes were renewed. "I order you to stay out of this fight. I don't care if it looks like I'm about to die. Do not get involved."

A rare expression of fear turned up on Chachamaru's face. "But master…"

"I've made my decision." Evangeline's voice was final as she walked away without turning back to see the despair in Chachamaru's eyes.

**_To be continued..._**


	3. War

**Author's notes**: And here we are now. The big hookin battle, aka the place where story takes a back-seat and action takes center stage. That's not to say that the story isn't progressed in this chapter. Just that we're mainly here for the fight between Evangeline and Anna.

Before you keep reading I'm going to confess two things. My latin isn't what I'd like it to be so I'm using english for all of the spells used here. And my mental map of Mahora is questionable at best so if you find any flaws in the geography of this chapter please disregard it.

That's all I have to say. Now sit back, relax and enjoy this epic battle.

* * *

**War**

They could feel where the other one was. It was part of the enchantment that made Anna appear close by at the right time and day. The closer they got to each other the stronger the knowledge of the other's whereabouts became.

Thanks to this it was easy for Anna to track down her target. On the other hand it was just as easy for Evangeline to wander around and avoid Anna to give herself some added time until the blackout commenced. She found it kind of soothing to observe the empty academy grounds. At the same time it had an ominous feeling to it that didn't sit well with her.

When the blackout was initiated she decided to wait at the square by the large stairway where she had made Negi fight Chachamaru. She found it to be a fitting opening stage.

Clanking footsteps at the bottom of the stairs alerted the vampire that she wasn't alone.

"Evangeline A. K. McDowell." The addressed vampire turned around at the booming voice and locked eyes with the spirit knight. "Are you ready to die for your crimes?"

Normally she would've said something witty and demeaning to her foe, but the mere fact that she hesitated even for a second prompted another answer from the blonde. "No, I am not."

Evangeline barely had any time to catch Anna's first punch. The bones in her fingers felt like they would break. She was unable to stop the second punch. It struck her face and sent her crashing across the square.

It was with great coordination that the vampire managed to flip onto her feet while still in motion and deflect a follow up blow from the chasing knight. The next instant Evangeline finally counter attacked with a punch of her own. It was strong enough to shatter solid concrete but Anna caught it without flinching.

Before her opponent could get a good enough grip Evangeline pulled her hand back and simultaneously launched a jumping kick at the armoured spirits chest. The attack sent the vengeful spirit flying into the air. She landed gracefully without missing a beat.

Evangeline grimaced before sprinting forward with lightning quick speed.

Anna mirrored the vampire and the two met in the middle of the square where their fists collided. The resulting shockwave cracked the ground.

Neither side yielded and bombarded the other with swift and fierce strikes. Defence was completely forgone by both and their attacks alternated between colliding and hitting their target. The unending assaults kicked up a violent storm of shockwaves that slowly dug up a crater beneath their feet.

The pain Evangeline felt increased with each passing moment. It wasn't the kind of pain that was insignificant to a being of her might, but the unusual kind of pain that she would feel for days afterwards, if she lived that long. The only reason she hadn't collapsed into a broken meatbag was her rapid healing.

Anna on the other looked disturbingly fine in her cosy armour.

The vampire shifted her left fist into an open palm with slightly bent fingers and thrust a strike straight into Anna's abdomen. It sent the spirit crashing into a stone ledge.

Not wasting a second, Evangeline floated into the air and began chanting and spheres of ice magic surrounded her body. Anna stopped in mid-charge when she saw what the vampire was doing.

"Arrows of Ice!" The dark mage shouted and launched the spheres in a projectile barrage. Anna reacted by throwing her arms into a cross in front of her chest. At first Evangeline thought that it was just a poor attempt at a defensive measure, but then Anna's 'cloak' expanded and formed a dome around its wearer.

Explosions echoed across the area and a large dust cloud was kicked up when the arrows collided with the dome. The blonde took a defensive stance, she was too experienced to think that her attacked had had much, if any, effect.

True to her suspicion, Anna was completely unharmed. Her protective dome and the ground around it had been frozen solid. But the ice was quickly shattered as collateral damage when the dome resumed its cloak form.

The vengeful spirit held out her right hand and tiny sparks quickly formed an orb of electricity. Anna clasped her hand around the orb and it took the form of a glowing lance.

Sensing that the weapon possessed large amounts of destructive energy Evangeline backed up into the sky. She focused her own energies into her right hand which glowed brightly and formed the pointed blade of a sword and she whispered the needed words. "Executioner's Sword."

They stared at each other for a moment; Anna's eyes were filled with controlled hatred while Evangeline's showed a cold indifference.

Then they charged at each other.

Anna jumped into the air to skewer the vampire and Evangeline swung her literal swordarm to simply counter her attacker. Both warriors pushed their respective energy weapon into the other with all the force they could muster. The result was not some measly spark or drawn out pushing match.

It was a gigantic and violent explosion of magical energy.

It knocked both of them back as if they were leafs caught in a tornado instead of elite warriors. Anna was pushed into the ground, making a perfect Anna-shaped dent, while Evangeline soared through the air with a throbbing pain in her head.

The vampire crashed with her back to the ground and rolled onto her knees, coughing. Her clothes had been badly burnt and she herself was singed as well. She was still better of than the square. It looked like a meteor had struck the place. Even the stairs had been incinerated by the blast.

Figuring that her foe would be incapacitated for a few more moments Evangeline was understandably perturbed when she heard the metallic rustle of someone clad in armour cracking the ground as they got up from it and jumped into the air.

Growling, the vampire kicked herself from the ground just in time to see Anna impale it with a lightning sword. Not giving the vampire any time to rest Anna swung the sword in Evangeline's direction, cutting up the already ruined concrete, and sent a sharp wave of electricity after her.

The blonde took to the sky just in time. The attack cut the bottom of her cloak in two. She didn't stop until she was about 20 meters up in the air, where she took the time to catch her breath.

"_This is no good._" The master criminal thought. "_Like always she's completely different from the last time we fought, but this time she hasn't just gotten new abilities and gotten stronger through that determination and lust for revenge she has. She's planned for this fight._" The warrior in question glared at her adversary but remained otherwise unmoving. "_That armour gives her the edge in close combat and her cloak thing negates my ranged attacks. Also, she wants this so much more than I do._" She narrowed her eyes as she looked at a small crack that had appeared on Anna's chest plate. "_Looks like she didn't escape the blast completely unscathed. Normally that would delight me, but now… Now I'm not sure about that, or anything else for that matter._"

The winds began to pick up as she floated in the air passively. "_She has every right to kill me and probably deserve better than a never-ending hunt for revenge. But I don't want to die. I'm not ready for it. Is it because I'm scared of death? Is Chachazero right? Have I become too soft during my time with this particular class? I just don't understand._"

Anna's grip on her energy sword tightened. She was getting impatient.

"_Just focus on the matter at hand._" Evangeline told herself. "_Don't let useless thoughts distract you. She's not invincible, the crack's a proof of that, I have plenty of time to finish this and she doesn't seem to know how to fl…_" Anna's 'cloak' suddenly formed itself into a pair of large transparent angelic wings and she took to the air. "_…y. Crap._"

That moment of surprise was all Anna needed to drive her sword into Evangeline's midsection.

* * *

Even in Evangeline cottage they could easily hear the explosion that confirmed that the battle had begun.

Ever since Evangeline had walked away from them, Negi and his students had been sitting around the vampire's porch without talking to each other or moving really. Only Chachamaru had stood up and gazed in the direction of the academy area once the blackout had started.

Negi was the first one to say the thing none of them wanted to say out loud. "Evangeline-sama is evil." The others nodded grimly.

Setsuna expanded on Negi's statement. "She's done horrible things and the only punishment she's gotten is to be locked up in this school for fifteen years."

Konoka quickly jumped to the vampire's defence, not ready to turn on their friend. "But she's been wronged in past too. Like when she became a vampire, and she has done lots of good deeds for us…"

"Yeah," Kasumi interrupted. "For us. Not for that Anna girl. Evangeline was right, just because you do good things doesn't mean that you've erased the bad stuff you've done before that."

"So what? Does she deserve to die for those crimes?" Asuna questioned. "Are we hoping that the she loses or something?"

Yue answered with a solemn voice. "If it is what she deserves or not isn't really up to us to judge. We weren't there. But Evangeline-san losing… I don't think I want that."

Haruna spoke up with an unusually calm voice. "She does seem to be the bad guy in this situation, and don't we you know, fight the bad guys?" Nobody answered and they resumed being silent and sullen while the sounds of battle could be heard all the way from the campus area.

Then, an unexpectedly firm voice made itself heard. "The proper office of a friend is to side with you when you are in the wrong. Nearly anybody will side with you when you are in the right. Mark Twain."

The group stared as Nodoka stood up, looking unusually determined. "Yes, we can't judge what's right and what's wrong in this situation. But that shouldn't matter!" She started to shake a little as she fisted her hands. "The Evangeline-san that we know is a good person and more importantly, she is our friend!"

Shocked expressions appeared on the group's faces. To hear Nodoka speak with such conviction was rare indeed. The girl took a few breaths as she mellowed down. "Even if she doesn't want our help, we should at the very least be there for her. It's what friends do after all. Right?"

She felt a soft hand on her shoulder and looked down to see Negi smiling gratefully at her. "Yeah, you're absolutely right." Nodoka blushed a little as Negi addressed the rest of the group. "Master doesn't want our help. That's fine. But we will be there for her, whether she wants us to or not. Whether she deserves it or not. We will be there, for our friend!" The girls around him grinned, nodded and blinked.

The only one that didn't was the one closest to Evangeline. Negi approached the robot. "Chachamaru…" She cut him off, her back still turned to the group.

"I have never broken an order that master has given to me. As a servant I could be deemed as perfect. The most recent order was for me to not get involved with her battle." She said with a hint of regret added to her usually monotone voice.

"But we're not going to interfere with…" Setsuna tried.

"I am also my master's partner in battle and, like all of you, I am her friend. I do not think that I would be able to simply bare witness to this battle without rushing to her aid, thus breaking her order. I am sorry. But I cannot go with you." The solemn atmosphere instantly returned. "I know of a way for all of you to get there quickly."

"And I," Chachazero interrupted as she emerged from the cottage's door, empowered the same way Evangeline was. "Know of a way for you to be there to see everything without having a risk of you taking part in any of it." The puppet's malevolent smirk didn't reassure anyone.

* * *

Screaming in pain was beneath Evangeline, at least she thought so. But getting skewered with an energy sword and then getting slashed through more than half of her abdomen with it would entice some sort of emotional reaction from anyone.

Evangeline did indeed avoid screaming in pain. She roared with fury and blasted her assailant back to the ground so hard that yet another small crater was formed upon impact.

As she healed, slower than usual, Evangline ripped of the remains of her cloak before flying away. Anna recovered faster than expected, tore herself from the ground and was soon in hot pursuit of the vampire.

The blonde veered sharply to the right in order to avoid a sizzling lightning bolt streaking past her. Dodging the lightning bolt however distracted her just enough for Anna to catch up with a burst of speed. Evangeline reacted fast enough to being throwing a punch. But with her headstart Anna grabbed the vampire's head a forcefully shoved it into a building wall.

She was not finished there. Anna dragged Evangeline's face from one end of the wall to the other, carving a jagged streak across the building, and then, in graceful but aggressive motion, tossed her to the ground. Evangeline crashed through a large window and felt herself get entangled in a soft fabrics.

After standing up a quick glance told her that she was inside a particularly dreary clothes store she never bothered to remember the name off. "_We're in the shopping district. Good, the old geezer won't bug me about…_"

She threw up her hands, forming an invisible shield of energy which blocked the spear of lightning that raced towards her. The impact caused lightning bolts to rebound all over the store, completely incinerating it. As collateral damage the entire building collapsed upon the vampire.

Anna silently stood in the middle of the street and observed the dust cloud rising from the ruined structure. Electricity sparkled in her hands.

Suddenly a blur came dashing towards the armoured spirit. Most people would have been blitzed into submission by the sheer speed and ferocity of Evangeline's attack. Anna simply steadied herself and blocked a devastating strike to her cracked chestplate. She was however pushed back, evident from the small trenches that her feet dug up in the pavement.

Evangeline kept her motion flowing and twisted in mid-air to launch a sharp kick at Anna's head, more specifically the side of her shielded face. The attack connected and sent the spirit knight flying through a building wall.

Evangeline took a stance as she waited for her foe. Her face was contorted in a bright fury.

"_Screw reasons and hesitation. I'm getting sick and tired of being treated like trash._" She growled in her head as the silhouette of a white knight appeared in the hole she had just created.

The vampire's eyes narrowed threateningly. "If you want a fight then come on!" She roared like a lion defending its grounds. "I'll give you a fight you stubborn little ghoul!"

A wind tossed Evangeline's hair around.

There was still something missing.

Anna didn't care. She just attacked with renewed vigour. A lightning sword once again formed in her hands as she leapt at the vampire. As she brought the energy weapon down her small foe quickly threw up her right hand and formed a spherical shield around her body. When the sword connected with the shield the force of the blow created a shockwave that cracked the street directly below the blonde and all the windows within a 10 block radius.

Magical energy sparked in Evangeline's left hand. She threw her left arm up in an uppercut motion and released a crude and formless blast of dark magic in the same instant as she dropped the shield.

The lightning sword managed to nick the vampire's shoulder before its wielder was struck by the blast. It sent the spirit knight flying into the air and through the edge of a building. Evangeline followed in hot pursuit as her shoulder healed itself, she ignored the stinging sensation she felt as it did so.

Once she was above the buildings Evangeline quickly swayed to right to avoid another slashed from her speedy opponent. The blonde was quick to strike Anna in the chest, specifically where the crack she had gotten earlier was located. As expected Anna rocketed towards a building but not before she managed to grab Evangeline's wrist, pulling her along.

The spirit knight twisted around in the air so that the vampire was the one to feel the impact of being smashed through the roof of some unimportant bookstore. As they crashed to the floor Anna held Evangeline down and raised her lightning sword to impale the blonde's face. But she was swiftly kicked off by her enemy, who opted to flee into the open air once again. Anna pursued, cutting another hole through the roof as she did so.

The two raced high above Mahora academy when Evangeline suddenly turned around and fired a large blast of white magic at the spirit knight. Anna swiftly countered by turning her sword into a spear and throwing it to intercept the attack. The resulting collision was yet another blinding explosion of destructive energies that rattled the buildings below.

Before the smoke could clear up the two fighters met up in the middle of it and slammed their right fists against each other, the shockwave dispersed nearby clouds along with the smoke. Evangeline quickly grabbed Anna's wrist and pulled her in for left hook to her protected face. Anna quickly recovered, reformed her sword and slashed at the vampire's midriff. The blonde flew above the attack and struck her foe with enough force to send her flying downwards at high speeds.

Recovering before she reached the rooftops, Anna caught a racing Evangline's follow up punch. She then discharged a massive amount of electricity into her diminutive foe, burning her body and stunning her temporarily. Not wasting any time, Anna followed it up by slashing Evangeline across the chest and kicked her in the gut, sending her flying.

Evangeline flipped and skidded in the air as she halted herself. A little bit of blood poured from her chest wound before it started healing. But the vampire could not allow for even the slightest of rest as she had to duck down to avoid Anna's rushing attempt to decapitate her foe. Evangeline answered by hitting Anna hard in the gut, forcing her to double over. The dark mage then blasted her foe with a powerful yet rudimentary burst of ice magic.

The spirit knight was sent rocketing towards the buildings below, too frozen to move. It was an opportunity that Evangeline was quick to seize. She chased after Anna and assaulted her with a barrage of strikes so brutal and rapid that even after the ice was broken Anna was unable to counter and her sword dissipated as the focus required was lost.

They smashed into the ground in front of a large building that Evangeline quickly recognised as a finishing move formed in her head. Never pausing the hail of attacks, the vampire catapulted her adversary into the air and above the building. Anna barely managed to righten herself in midair before Evangeline appeared behind her and smacked her down with double-fisted blow. The spirit knight cracked the buildings roof as she crashed face first into it. Before she could pull herself up Evangeline delivered a mountain-splitting punch to Anna's back, sending her straight through the roof of Mahora's swimming hall.

Resembling a speeding rocket Anna made a giant splash as she broke the water surface of the largest pool in the building and created a denture in the bottom of it. It took a moment for the spirit knight to regain her wits and stand up on her feet again. Once she managed that task she took off to return the favour to her hated target. But before she could get out of the pool, everything around her turned cold.

* * *

Evangeline panted heavily as she looked down on the pool she had just frozen solid. She wanted to leave it at that and just sit down for a moment. But she knew better. Being frozen inside 1000 cubic meters of ice wouldn't stop Anna for long. And so, the vampire began chanting.

"Lic Lac La Lac Lilac! Come, Spirits of Darkness! Strike the World with Power!" She noticed that the ice was beginning to crack. At the same time, dark magic began glowing around her wrists. "O Meteor of the Night! Hammer of Destruction!" A purple pentagram surrounded by a circle with various markings inside it appeared beneath her. A particularly large crack was forming across the frozen pool. "_It'll be a close one._" The vampire thought grimly.

"Meteor of Darkness!" She screamed and thrust her hands together right above the middle of the pentagram, unleashing what can only be described as sphere of solid darkness towards her target.

In the exact same instant the giant block of ice exploded with such force that the shattered pieces were sent flying across the hall as Anna broke free with sheer strength. The spirit knight angrily blasted off into the air but wasn't fast enough to avoid getting struck down again by Evangeline's attack.

As Anna and the sphere hit the ground the attack blew up in her face. The force of the impact and the explosion were large enough to not only destroy the entire swimming hall but to also collapse the ground where the building had stood, forming a large crater all the debris fell in to.

Evangeline gazed into the smoke and dust clouds that rose up from the debris. Her body floated limply in the air as she took deep breathes. "_She's not out. Remember that. She is NOT out yet._" She repeated in her head. "_She's just stunned and hopefully damaged. As soon as I've caught my breath I'll retreat to a more strategic location. Man, my arms hurt._" She wiped her forehead of sweat and stretched a little. "_Ok, let's…_"

Suddenly she was struck with multiple tiny spikes of electricity that not only hurt like hell but also paralyzed her. She'd break out eventually but wouldn't get the chance as Anna appeared in front of her in a blur. The crack on her chest plate was bigger now and several more chinks were visible all over the armor now, along with a white vapor that floated out of them.

"A powerful demonstration of your might, as always. But don't think that I am that easy to defeat." She commented with a cold voice as electricity sparked in her left hand. This time she did not form it into a weapon. Instead she pulled the hand back, violently shoved it into Evangeline's chest and released the gathered energy at the same time, blasting the vampire away into the distance with Anna following.

Eventually the electrocuted blonde crashed into the dining district of Mahora, ripping up the road as she did so. Smoldering somewhat, the vampire pushed herself up, ignoring the pain and the fact that her healing had slowed down a little more. Evangeline gazed up at Anna, who floated above the buildings, her eyes firmly locked on her target, and growled.

"You are really beginning to piss me off. You know that?" The vampire told her opponent with a dark voice. "Wait… I forgot. You don't care about things like that. You just want to kill me." Anna said nothing and just looked menacingly as se flapped her wings to stay in the air. Evangeline narrowed her eyes in frustration at the silence. "Well then," She continued. "Let's not make you wait any longer. Bring it on!" Evangeline roared and blasted off from the ground.

Anna smiled. You couldn't see it through her mouth guard, but she smiled. It was a smile of satisfaction and triumph. Because Evangeline's reckless attempt at a blitz had been exactly what Anna was hoping for.

The vengeful spirit spread her angelic wings to their full length and then flapped them forward. This motion launched the wings' transparent feathers with bullet-like speed at the vampire. The feather's form change in midair to a more triangular and sharp shape, making them sharper as well as faster. Evangeline barely had time to react to this new attack before the first one cut right into her abdomen. It was almost instantly followed all the other 'feathers'.

Cuts of all sizes were slashed open across the vampire's small frame as she was aggressively pushed back to the ground. As if that wasn't enough the feather blades also burned the vampire where they cut her. The pain alone was almost enough for Evangeline to pass out, and yet she did not scream.

Blood colored the broken street around Evangeline red and the glowing feather blades gave it an eerie yet comforting light. Unfortunately they also pinned her to the ground and she couldn't tear herself away without tearing herself up even more. Of course, the other option available wasn't much better.

Without her wings Anna fell from the air, but looked perfectly calm, and hit the ground with a street cracking thud. She wasted no time in producing a large mace of lightning and slammed it down on her target. A pillar of dirt, dust and concrete burst into the air and a cascade of stray lightning bolts burned the surrounding buildings.

A quick flex of her power dispersed the dust cloud every which way to reveal her adversary's crushed body lying in a pool of her own blood in front of her. At least, that was the idea. But while the blood was there, the tiny vampire was missing.

Anna frantically looked around her surroundings but was too late to notice the dark shape leaping out of her own shadow.

Evangeline struck Anna's side with enough power to send her into a restaurant and out the back, opening up a hole through the building. Through this hole the two enemies stared at each other before once again charging. They met up in yet another storm of punches. This time however they simultaneously flew into the air, smashing all the way through the building's three floors and out the top ceiling where Anna uppercut Evangeline away. Neither noticed, nor cared for that matter, that the restaurant collapsed upon itself.

Once above the ceilings Anna got in a surprise uppercut that sent the blonde vampire reeling through the air.

Evangeline righted herself in the air and was then only able to brace herself for Anna's next attack. A lightning lance skewered Evangeline's gut and burned away the skin on the palm of her hands as she tried to stop it. Anna pushed Evangeline across the air until she hit solid ground and the lance unleashed an endless stream of electricity through the dark mage.

Lightning bolts discharged from the blonde's body and tore up the surrounding area. She convulsed in pain as it felt as if her insides were burning up. It was with a herculean effort that she actually pulled the lance further into her body to bring Anna closer. It surprised the spirit knight to say the least, as did the vampire's eyes. Evangeline glared at Anna with the eyes of a furious beast. The spirit knight didn't even blink. She just met the glare with a look of cold an indifferent hate, determined to not show any sign of weakness to the vampire.

If she hadn't been so focused on Evangeline's eyes Anna might've been able to stop Evangeline's desperation attack. Five energy-knives formed around her left hand and she shoved them all into Anna's gut. The attack was extremely potent and explosive. It destroyed the lightning lance, stunned Anna and sent her flying away from Evangeline. At the same time the blast further burned Evangeline, pushed her into the ground and blew away all things in the vicinity that weren't nailed down.

Anna's limp body soared a short distance through the sky before falling for few seconds longer than she expected and hitting the ground. A greater amount of vapor streamed out of the cracks in Anna's armor and Evangeline's attack had punched a fist sized hole in the armor's right side. Mist practically poured out of it. Calmly, and rather stiffly, Anna reached over and touched the hole with her right hand. Electricity sparked and the armor began melting over the hole.

Evangeline pushed herself up from the tiny crater that she and Anna had caused. Thankful for the pause, however brief it might be, she took a look at where she was and how much damage had been done to her.

The battle had taken her to the cliff that had the best vantage point over all of Mahora. Saddly the previous blast had incinerated the front part of it and cracked the rest. It was a miracle that it hadn't crumbled already.

Of her clothes the boots and panties were the most intact, though they were burned and torn in several places. Only tattered remains right below her left elbow remained from her fingerless gloves. Her dress was literally hanging on a thin thread and would probably fall apart in the next collision between the two of them.

Evangeline herself was burned and bruised all over and the gaping hole from the lance was healing agonizingly slowly. Blood, both dried and fresh, colored patches of her skin different nuances of red. Even her hair hand been singed and pieces had fallen off.

"_This is it._" She thought grimly as the hole finished closing up. "_With this I can't heal much more, at least not to this extent, AND fight Anna on this level. Either I give up one of the two or I think up a plan._" Anna suddenly floated up in front of the plateau. "_Looks like I won't have time for option two._"

"You're not looking too hot you know." Evangeline said without any enthusiasm.

"Your strength is depleting much faster than my own. It is only a matter of time before I kill you, vermin." Anna responded with a deadly voice.

Evangeline tried to think up a fitting retort but never got the time needed. The sound of terrified shouts and loud accusations filled the air along with something crashing into trees and bouncing off of ceilings. Despite the dangerous situation at hand Evangeline took a moment to sigh in annoyance. Anna seemed to have stopped because of the commotion anyway.

"Right! Right! You're supposed to go RIGHT!" Kasumi screamed as a large circle shape burst out from the buildings behind Evangeline.

"I'm trying! But the damn thing just won't do what it's supposed to do!" Haruna shouted back as the construct dipped down, revealing the group Evangeline had left at her cabin. Chachamaru and Chachazero seemed to be absent though, it discomforted her a little. They were all holding on for their dear life to a thin railing attached to the flying platform via some equally thin rods.

Evangeline recollected Chachamaru saying something about buying a vehicle like this in the magical world when they had gotten back and that she was trying to work out the kinks.

"Look, there they aAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Asuna's comment turned into a scream of horror as the flying platform smashed into the ground and the group was piled together comically. Apparently the device still needed some more time with Chachamaru.

"And these are?" Anna questioned threateningly.

"Inconsequential." Evangeline responded with a voice that quite obviously indicated that she thought the new arrivals were all idiots.

Having learned Anna's attack pattern to a certain degree by now, Evangeline managed to side-stepped a downward sword-swing that cut a deep gnash into the ground. She the blasted off into the air to get away from meddling morons. Anna followed swiftly.

"M-master…" Negi called out with a strained voice as the group untangled themselves from each other.

"Ok we found them, now let's…" Asuna stopped when she looked out over the school area and its recently demolished parts. "WHAT THE HELL DID THEY DO TO OUR SCHOOL?!"

"Actually, the school itself seems to be rather intact." Yue corrected matter-of-factly. "It's the various commercial areas that seem to have suffered the most collateral damage."

"Whatever! If it continues like this they'll blow up the entire city sooner or later. We have to stop them." Asuna shouted as the others rightened the platform.

"But, we said that we'd only observe and be here for Evangeline-chan" Konoka said meekly while looking out over Mahora with a distraught expression.

"That was then, before we knew the scale of this battle. We can't just let this thing spill out over the dormitories." Asuna countered fervently. They had gotten the platform to hover about half a meter above ground, Kasumi and Haruna eyed it caution.

Negi looked out over the ruined Mahora. Shockwaves and large explosions in the distance whipped up a sharp wind that reached the young genius' face as a path of crumbling buildings made its way towards the harbor area.

"Asuna's right." He said with a hint of hesitation. "Who knows how much destruction they'll cause before it's over. And we can't let them injure anybody else."

"Don't worry." A calm voice said from behind the group making them all turn around. "They won't." Takahata said with a reassuring voice after seemingly appearing out of nowhere. "That is, as long as you guys don't get involved."

A minute of stunned silence later the group showered Takahata with a barrage of the expected questions.

"What are you doing here? Why shouldn't we get involved? How do you know they won't hurt anyone else? How can you be so calm when they're destroying the school? Do you even have any idea of what's going on here?"

Takahata held up his hands. "Ok, take it easy. I'll answer everything but it's best if we do it somewhere else. This plateau could fall apart at any moment."

At that moment the plateau fell apart.

One short yet harrowing and over-the-top rescue scene later they were all safely standing on the flying platform, now expertly piloted by Takahata, heading towards the very loud sounds of battle.

"Evangeline-san came to us yesterday and told us the entire situation." Takahata explained. "She asked for us to let her fight this Anna person with all of her might and on her own."

"And you just let her do that?!" Asuna asked with an accusing voice.

"Of course not." Takahata answered, unflinched by the girl's outburst. "We made her promise to make sure that the battle never moved into the residential areas and in return we would make sure that there weren't anybody on the streets that would get in her way. We've even went so far as to put all the teachers and a few of your fellow students on guard duty to stop people from going out, and during the day a charm was put on all the windows so that nobody would notice the battle."

"But what about the buildings?" Negi questioned. "Even if they're not fighting in the residential areas they're tearing apart everything else."

"Buildings can and will be replaced Negi-kun." Takahata said. "And it could be worse. We've actually placed protective spells over the entire campus area. If it wasn't for them the collateral damage would've been at least three times worse."

The eyes of the entire group boggled.

"Th-th-three times worse?" Negi stammered out.

"Yes." Takahata said. "You've faced Jack Rakan when he was initially holding back, Negi-kun. Imagine this as a battle between two of him who are seriously trying to kill each other from the get go. That's the kind of fight we have here and also the reason why we agreed not to send in any back-up. Except for Evangeline-san there's not a single person here that would survive for long against Anna."

Negi resisted the urge to yell that he could've. Not that it would've mattered really. His master had been very adamant about no interference. He noticed that Takahata was glancing down at him and seemed to have been reading his mind.

"Evangeline-san also wanted me to make sure than none of you got involved with the battle or even tell you about it. So I've been trailing you in secret ever since school ended" He then smirked. "Of course, she never mentioned that we couldn't tip you off that something was amiss indirectly."

"That's why you made such a big deal about the blackout so early in the day." Konoka said, the realization apparent in her voice.

"Exactly. Me and your grandfather thought that it would be nice for Evangeline to have somebody cheering for her. Your curiosity and concern did the rest." Takahata said with a smile. "By the way, where is Chachamaru? I was certain that she'd be with you guys."

"She is." Setsuna assured and showed a sports bag that she was carrying. She opened it up and picked out Chachamaru's head.

"Good evening Takahata-sensei." Chachamaru said politely as there wasn't anything strange about the situation.

Before the teacher could answer her a second voice came from the sportsbag. "About time. It wasn't exactly pleasant in there you know." Chachazero complained as she climbed out. "So, where's the fight?" She said with a much more cheerful voice.

As if on cue the platform was shaken by a powerful shockwave that knocked everyone off balance and the platform went haywire. In the chaos Setsuna dropped Chachamaru's head and it rolled towards the edge.

Negi dove for the robot's rolling head and caught it just as it was about to fall off the platform, in the same instant Takahata managed to stabilize their vehicle.

"Caught you." Negi exclaimed, happy that his student didn't get injured. Chachamaru on the other hand seemed to be oddly distant.

"Master." She said softly and looked down. The group gathered around Negi and Chachamaru's head to peer over the railing.

"There we go. That's what I've been waiting to see all day." Chachazero said with a wicked delight.

By the harbor the two fighters were highly visible in storm of strikes, magic attacks and magic empowered strikes. Blood stained the ground below them and white haze filled the air around them and the energy they were throwing off had blasted open craters all over the area and was cracking the ground without stop.

Evangeline landed an uppercut on Anna who recovered quickly and tried to pierce the vampire's back with a lightning sword. She missed as the blonde spun around, took a quick step away from the sword and punched Anna's side hard. The spirit knight responded by grabbing the back of Evangeline's head, sending electricity through the tiny mage's body and shoving her face into the ground.

She then let go and quickly stomped on the vampire's back, digging her further into the ground. Anna reformed her sword into a mace and was about to strike it down on Evangeline when the blonde rolled over and threw up an ice-shield. It was destroyed almost instantly but at the same time Anna's mace dissolved after hitting it.

Both fighters jumped away from each other before charging back again an instant later. Evangeline threw a punched aimed straight at Anna's gut. But the spirit knight side-stepped the attack and hit vampire's face from the side with an electrified punch. It packed enough force to send Evangeline crashing into the water.

Anna followed it up by bringing out her wings and flying into the air above the river. Lightning spears formed in both her hands and she threw them into the water. They exploded and spread electricity out all over the water, turning it into a giant death-trap. And she didn't stop there. One after another the lightning spears were thrown into the waters until there was a veritable rain of them.

The group on the flying platform stared at the scene with fear and worry in their eyes.

"Wait! Stop! That's enough!" Konoka screamed but was silenced by Takahata.

"Save your breath. She won't acknowledge your existence if you're not in the way of the fight." He said solemnly as Anna halted her barrage and simply stared into the still sparkling waters while slowly turning around in mid-air. "Besides," He said with a smirk. "I don't think that that would be enough to finish Evangeline-san."

Suddenly the dark mage in question blurred in behind Anna. She was chanting.

"…owstorm which Blows with Darkness! Snowstorm of Darkness!" The vortex of ice and darkness hit Anna head on. It pushed her away from Evangeline and would've demolished a nearby building if not for a twist that worried Evangeline more than she dared to think.

Anna started to push back against her spell. With her hands and a large blast of electricity she put the forward momentum of the attack to a screeching halt, forcing the two into a vicious pushing match.

"_Crap! This is not happening!_" Evangeline screamed in her head. "_I am Evangeline McDowell._" She couldn't see them due to the clashing energies but she could feel Anna's hate-filled eyes glaring at her as if they were standing face to face. "_I am stronger than YOU!_" The vampire focused more dark magic than was necessary into her attack. "_NOW FALL!_" With one last push she broke through Anna's counter-attack and knocked her out of the sky.

The pavement was smashed apart as Anna hit it, leaving a dissolving trail of vapor behind as evidence of her fall.

"WAHOO!" Haruna shouted. "That's exactly what I'd expect from Mahora's resident bully general."

"If we were to use her own terms, she is like a super-powerful bonus character in an RPG-game that you get to put into your party after completing the game on hard mode." Kasumi analyzed. "The kind of character that can beat the last boss easily."

"Yeah." Yue agreed. "It's hard to imagine that Evangeline-san would lose at all."

The air optimism would've continued if not for a certain sadistic little puppet. "Then why is she losing?" Chachazero asked merrily.

"What!?" The three girls yelled in union.

"Look at her." Chachazero told them without looking in their direction. "Her body's all burnt up from that barrage and there's blood sipping out of fresh wounds. She's not healing anymore; she's been pushed to the point where she doesn't have the energy to spare for it. That attack just now was one of her stronger techniques and it was almost pushed back by the enemy." Their faces paled at this, for them new information.

"She's sweating and she's exhausted. There's panic and uncertainty in her eyes. And considering the explosions we heard earlier I'm thinking that she's starting to run out of tricks to pull here. Don't fall for the optimistic bullshit that mr. Nice Guy here is telling you. Fact is that my dear old master is slowly but steadily getting her ass kicked in this fight. If you don't believe me then you can ask any of the fighting chumps on this dumbass platform."

"You are only half-right." Setsuna countered almost instantly. "It is true that Evangeline-sama has been greatly injured and that she has exhausted much of her power. But the same is true for Anna who can't seem to get back on her feet at the moment."

Everybody turned around to look down on the vengeful spirit who was indeed having trouble lifting herself up. "It is as Takahata-sensei said. This is battle between fighters of the highest level and from what I'm seeing it could go either way. We've come into a critical juncture. The duel is nearing its end. Let us honor our agreement to Evangeline-san and just watch. Have faith in her." Setsuna finished with such a cool voice that Konoka had to restrain herself from glomping her so as to not ruin the moment.

In silence everyone, except for Chachazero who was mumbling about Setsuna being a goody-two-shoes who ruins her fun, turned their attention back to the fight where Evangeline was preparing a new attack.

She held her hands above her head and actually pulled the river water into the sky above her. Anna got up on her feet but she was staggering and couldn't get her bearings straight, giving Evangeline enough time to finish her preparations. The water formed and froze into a sphere of ice large enough to encompass at least three four-story houses.

"Is… is she really going to use… that?" Negi asked with a worried voice.

"I think that we'd better back up a little Takahata said and moved the platform a short distance away.

As Evangeline pulled her arms back to throw the massive ice sphere Anna seemed to have recovered fully and set her sights on the vampire once again. Just in time to see the attack get launched.

"Hammer of the Ice God!" She threw the ice sphere directly at Anna who formed a lightning lance in her right hand. The spirit knight launched herself at the giant ball of ice and when was close enough she plunged her energy weapon into the incoming orb and discharged a massive electrical blast.

Evangeline's attack shattered and large chunks of ice flew all over the place. Most of them fell back into the water from whence they came. Some crashed into the buildings on the harbor, smashing down roofs and walls. Takahata had to pull off some pretty impressive maneuvers so that he and his students weren't struck by the cold debris.

Anna charged on right through the falling ice to reach the object of her hate. Evangeline jumped up above Anna's attack and the twisted around so as to not show her back. Anna halted herself and blasted off towards Evangeline again. This time the vampire met her head on and they grappled in the air. Too late did Evangeline realize what a mistake that was. Electricity surged through her body as Anna tightened her grip on the blonde's hands to make sure that she didn't escape.

Pain once again blasted through Evangeline as she felt how her entire body was burning up, especially her hands. She tried to focus enough to blast her way lose. But she suddenly felt that she was flying backwards before she could attempt anything like that. Anna had sped off like a bullet and pushing Evangeline along with her.

"After them!" Negi screamed. "They've gone, we can't lose them!"

"Don't worry Negi-kun. We won't." Takahata assured and directed the platform to fly after the two enemies while the girls tried to calm Negi down.

Chachamaru's head stared in the direction Evangeline had been pushed. "Master." She mumbled with regret in her voice.

Chachazero on the other seemed strangely content with the situation. "_The way things are going she might actually be pushed into using those spells. Hell, I bet she's already been pushed there. Too bad that she's so wishy washy right now. Oh well, that'll teach here to grow soft on me._"

* * *

Evangeline lost count on how many buildings they went through after the first five. It is sufficient to say that her backside got bruises the size of baseballs before Anna decided that enough was enough and crashed the two of them into the ground. Evangeline had also lost count how many craters they had caused during this fight.

As she stumbled out of it she saw that they were now outside the front of the main school building. Her body felt like it was made of jelly with toothpicks inserted in random places to act as bones and she was in a desperate need for some aspirin. She looked around for Anna and found her standing a few meters away staring at her.

"I want to etch this moment into my memory." She said with what some might define as an emotionless excitement. "My most hated enemy on the verge of defeat almost entirely stripped down and completely defenseless. It's a wonderful sight to behold."

"I'm not entirely defenseless here you know. I still have enough power to take you on." Evangeline answered with what was supposed to defiance but just came of as dullness.

"Perhaps. But now that you can no longer heal yourself I will be able to finish this battle with one attack."

Evangeline didn't like the sound of that. So she decided that speech was a just wasted time and launched a high-powered energy blast at her. Unfortunately Anna had plenty of time to cross her arms and turn her cape into the spherical shield.

"_Ok. I can still do this. I just have to tackle her once the shield…_" The blast shattered the shield entirely and knocked her into the ground. "_…is destroyed and she's easily struck down. I hate this girl._"

Had she been her normal cruel and mocking self Evangeline would've seen it coming a mile away. She would've taunted Anna for presuming that she'd fall for such a simple ruse. But now that she was just fighting through the motions without really understanding why she was fighting Evangeline didn't realize that she was walking into a trap as she attacked Anna's flailing form.

As the vampire closed in to deliver a punishing blow Anna raised herself quickly and used her longer arm to strike at Evangeline first. The electrified punch sent Evangeline soaring into the air, and gave her a nasty mix between a black-eye and a burn.

The blonde somersaulted in the air, growled, charged up magic energies in her hands and felt her heart getting pierced by what she could only guess was a spear of solid sun. It was fairly close to the truth.

A thin, five-meter pole of solid white light had gone straight through her chest from behind her. Blood gushed from the wound and the pain was constant, blinding and numbing to the point where she could barely move.

Anna stood perfectly still while glaring at the squirming vampire.

"Your strength is waning. You're fighting without focus. You're trapped. And now I'm going to kill you." There was a strange hint of satisfaction in her voice, as if she wasn't used to it.

"You think… that this… can hold me?" The vampire spluttered out with half-hearted defiance, blood spewed from her mouth as she talked.

Anna titled her head to the side slightly. "I am not done. Look around."

Evangeline hesitantly glanced at her surroundings and then cursed under her breath. All around her they hovered in the air. They covered the area in a pleasant or ominous light depending on your situation. Tiny stars that the vampire recognized.

"Did you really think my star-shroud would be that easy to destroy? Your arrogance will be your downfall, monster. Finally, my revenge will be complete. Starting now!"

As if on command multiple poles of light grew out of the tiny stars before they all almost simultaneously pierced Evangeline's body. Her gut, shoulders, chest, legs and arms were all perforated at more points than she could count. Within seconds, though it felt like an eternity to Evangeline, all the light poles had imbedded themselves in her body and just like the feather blades before they burned her intensely.

All thoughts about how she was above certain primal reactions vanished completely. As the fight's small group of on-lookers closed in on the two Evangeline let out a chilling scream of absolute pain.

She could hear faint voices screaming out her name and although blurry she could see the platform coming closer. There where some figures struggling on top of it, she couldn't make out the details of it but she was pretty certain what was going on.

"_Don't come here._" She wanted to scream. "_This isn't you battle. You have nothing to do with it._" She had been saying stuff like that all day, and she meant it 100%. Why didn't children listen to their elders?

Anna raised her right arm at Evangeline and the vampire felt that the scorching heat was increasing in temperature.

"It is over." The air itself began to shake as the poles glowed brighter and brighter.

Takahata had to restrain a shouting Negi while Chachamaru's visage twisted in pain.

"After 250 years you will finally go to hell for what you've done to me." Evangeline could feel how the poles were gathering energy and there wasn't a damn thing she could do to stop it.

Tears fell down Konoka's eyes as Asuna shouted for Evangeline to stop playing around.

"Now, for the last time Evangeline Athanasia Katherine McDowell. DIE!"

With that the vampire was suddenly engulfed in sphere of blinding white light that instantaneously expanded from the poles inside her body. When it was the size of a small building the light energy shoot up into the sky and down to the ground, forming a giant pillar.

All of Mahora shook violently from the force and for the people on the platform had to cover their faces from the blinding light and billowing winds that were kicked up. Within the pillar a small lump of darkness could be seen as it was getting torn apart.

Anna stoically observed the event not at all bothered by the light, wind or shaking.

Without warning the pillar shattered like glass and the shards faded away. What remained of the lump of darkness fell into the large pit that had been drilled into the ground. Anna's cloak reformed as the tiny stars returned to her.

The spirit knight calmly walked over to the giant hole and jumped into it, ignorning the platform hovering above her. She touched down with a loud thud, kicking up lose dirt as she did.

What she found in the hole pleased her immensely.

Anna bent down and picked up the remains of her hated enemy.

Evangeline's body had been destroyed from the waist down. Her right arm had been blown off completely and her left arm was severed at the elbow joint. What remained of her skin was burnt away almost completely and her hair had been incinerated. Even her blood seemed to have been evaporated. Finally, her eyes had glazed over and showed nothing.

Anna dropped the body to the ground and stood still for a few moments before shouting happily to the skies.

"FINALLY THE MONSTER IS VANQUISHED! JUST REVENGE HAS BEEN SERVED! I HAVE WON!"

Over her screams of victory the spirit knight could not be bothered to hear the crying on a small flying platform.

**_To be continued..._**


	4. Darkness

**Author's note**: I apologise deeply for the time it's taken to get this out. It's been a bit hectic and it turned out to be longer than I had expected. Anyway, hopefully this chapter will make up for it by being cool enough. I certainly enjoy the final parts of it.

Also, I would like to say that I'm very surprised that we can't change the size of letters in this website, that's rather annoying. If we can do that, please tell me how. Now please sit back and enjoy the latest chapter.

* * *

****

Darkness

"This is a joke. Right?" Asuna asked no in particular. She tried to look for some reassurance from anyone. She didn't find it. "Come on, she's… she's Evangeline. She wouldn't… couldn't…"

The red-head silenced when she met Takahata's eyes. They were devoid of denial or reassurance. Asuna turned a blank stare of disbelief to the pit that was occupied by Anna and Evangeline's remains. "No way." She whispered quietly and couldn't make up her mind whether she should scream or cry.

Elsewhere on the platform Konoka had grabbed on to Setsuna and was crying into her shoulder. The swordswoman held back her own tears and offered a comforting arm around her ojou-sama.

Yue, Haruna and Kasumi had all gone uncharacteristically silent. They just couldn't gather the will for single outbursts of enthusiastic eccentricity in light of what had happened.

Nodoka was the only person on platform to move from one place to another. Specifically to check on her teacher. "Ne-negi-sensei." She said cautiously.

The boy genius trembled as he turned around slowly and handed over Chachamaru's perplexed head to Nodoka. "Take care of her for me." He then turned around and headed to the edge of the platform.

"Somebody should probably stop him." Chachazero suggested from her sitting position on the railing, not a care in the world could be made out of her tone of voice.

Several huhs could be heard as the occupants of the platform turned to Negi, who was now standing on top of the railing. An aura of anger and general darkness radiated from the young boy. Takahata quickly stepped up to his fellow teacher.

"Negi-kun, please think about what you're about to do. It won't make things any better and…" He was ignored entirely as Negi blasted off with a vengeful scream towards the spirit knight.

* * *

The rousing joy that had gotten to her head was already dying down. Anna looked down on what had once been her hated foe and blinked. There was something missing.

It felt as if there should be trumpets or someone congratulating her. "_Or someone to free me of this form at least._" She thought solemnly as she remembered sitting for weeks on end in a white room. She also remembered pain, lots and lots of pains, as she had felt herself get torn apart. There had also been more hard work than she actually could recollect. But she knew it had been done. By her. Five times over.

The point is that she figured that her moment of triumph deserved something more than the silence she was listening to.

Not that she wasn't happy with the moment the way it was. Because she most certainly was. Happy that is. She was very happy.

Wasn't she?

Little time could be spent on those thoughts as she blurred out of the path of a raging prepubescent boy. That his blow blasted up another smaller, but still impressively big, hole inside the large pit surprised Anna, as she appeared on the edge of said pit, but didn't warrant her attention for all that long.

"Who are you?" She asked with the voice of a person who didn't really care but wanted to not think about things.

"You killed my master!" Negi shouted in fury and jumped at the spirit with a powerful uppercut ready. Anna merely jumped back a little to narrowly avoid the attack.

"So?" She asked with a bored voice as he touched down on the ground. "She deserved it. More than you will ever know."

Thoughts of her parents began to creep up in Anna's head. Just like her victory something about them was missing. With these thoughts in the way she didn't pay attention to Negi as he powered up his right fist with as many magical arrows as he possibly could summon up. But she did have enough presence to catch his strike before it properly hit her. Even so she was pushed back quite a bit by the force of the attack.

She was impressed, but not concerned.

"I know all about what my master did to you. But… but… She was a good person and you just murdered her for your own selfish reasons." He said through angry tears. It pissed Anna off.

"A good person you say." Her grip on his fist tightened painfully for the young mage. "So she was a good person when she selfishly slaughtered my parents was she?!" Her strength was overwhelming him as he was pushed down to one knee. "I have only taken the revenge that was rightfully mine. But what would you know about anything like that?"

In her reinvigorated anger Anna raised an arm to strike Negi down. Before she could finish follow through with it however she was forced to let the boy go and jump back to avoid two attacks the split the ground between her and Negi.

"_What now?_" Anna thought with a mix of annoyance and satisfaction, she wanted to be distracted.

Setsuna and Asuna stood protectively in front of their teacher with their respective swords raised and poised for attack.

"Don't move." Asuna said through gritted teeth. "If you move we will take you down with full force." A rather bold proclamation against a person that has just defeated the physically most powerful person Asuna knew.

"You've gotten what you came here for. Now just leave." Setsuna said with restrained anger.

Anna relaxed her stance. There was a certain logic to it. She looked over the trails of smoke that steadily streamed from the cracks in her armor. "_I can stay here for a few hours more. But there's nothing more for me here. I could pick a place and finally let it end there. At least, that's what should happen._" Anna gazed over at the three warriors waiting for her response.

She turned away from them. "There is nothing else for me. I'll disappear and you won't ever have to see me again." Her cloak took on its wing form and she was ready to take off.

"Wait!" Negi shouted.

...ic...la...l ac!

Anna turned her head in Negi's direction and stared at him with cold eyes. "What?" She fully expected him to scream out a promise of revenge.

"I can never forgive you. No matter what your reasons for killing Evangeline-san was I will not let it excuse your actions…"

"My actions don't need to be excused." Anna said assuredly.

Op.n...gat...to..e..iver...of...death

"Either way," Negi continued undeterred. "I know what it's like to lose your whole world in one night. The flood of raw feelings that surge through you is over-powering. The world just doesn't seem right anymore and you're driven to extremes that are the only things that make sense. My village was destroyed and I might've been just like you if I hadn't gotten the help that I did. Wandering the entire world with only revenge driving me on."

"Get to the point." Anna said impatiently.

Drnc...Your...ast.r

"What I'm trying to say is that while I can't claim that I can fully comprehend what you're feeling, I have an idea of where you're coming from. The burden of losing everything is something horrible that nobody should have to deal with."

Negi's eyes steeled as he met Anna's gaze with determination. "Again, I won't forgive you for killing my master. But I hope that in doing so you have found peace in your existence."

Anna's eyes widened in surprise. She was at a loss for words. Not because he wasn't swearing revenge in Evangeline's name. Rather she was terrified because the little boy had indirectly pointed out what was wrong with her without realizing that she had a problem to begin with.

..et...despai...and...Horror...ike...All Who See.

The sound of thunder caught everyone of guard.

"What was that?" Asuna asked with a chilled voice.

"I can't see any clouds in the sky." Setsuna said while she looked at the sky fervently.

"I think that it's coming from behind us." Negi said with a confused voice.

They looked over at the large pit. A small and dark cloud had formed above it. Thunder rumbled from it as tiny, barely noticeable, drops of a liquid they couldn't quite identify fell into the pit.

"No." Anna muttered.

"Is… is that..?" Setsuna stammered.

"Blood." Negi finished.

Indeed. It was blood that was raining down in an increasing amount into the pit. All four of the warriors where transfixed to the gut-wrenching sight. Not only because it is a rather terrifying to see a concentrated rain of blood. But also because such a bizarre event could only be caused by magic and since none of them had done anything for such a spell to be activated it left a possibility that they mere moments ago had considered impossible.

Then a terrifyingly exultant shout ripped through the air. Confirming everyone's' suspicions.

"Contract of Sacrifice!"

* * *

On the platform the less battle-able members of Ala Alba stared at the blood rain with horrified expressions.

"What the hell is that?!" Kasumi yelled to Takahata who had opted to stay on the platform and protect the other girls.

"I'm not sure." He answered cautiously and glanced over at Chachazero. "But I think I know someone who does know."

The string-puppet turned her head and smirked playfully at the students and teacher. "Oh I know exactly what it is. Doesn't mean that I'm going to tell you though." She said mockingly and jumped into the air as Yue tried to grab her. She back-flipped through the air and landed on Chachamaru's head, which was still being held by Nodoka.

"Take it easy." Chachazero told everyone as it looked like they were about to gang up on her. "All you need… No, all you want to know is that the fight isn't over yet. So sit back and relax. Because round two is about to begin."

* * *

"No." Anna said much louder in disbelief as the blood poured into the pit, seemingly without end.

The dark but hoarse laughter of someone reveling in a joke that only they could enjoy cut through the air. "HehehehehehehehAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"No. No. No! No! No! NO!" Anna screamed with increasing fury as she blasted into the sky. She positioned herself directly above the pit and formed a lightning spear in her hand. She threw the projectile with all her might as the amount of mist steaming out of her armour increased.

The lightning spear cut through the cloud and struck down into the pit, abruptly stopping the laughter. Stray bolts of lightning caved in the walls of the pit and Anna flew down into it with a powerful strike that sent up a large dust cloud into the air.

Negi, Asuna and Setsuna stared at the rising cloud with confusion. "What's going on? Should we do something?" Asuna questioned.

"I'm not sure." Negi said hesitantly.

In the pit Anna was looking around desperately for the corpse of her sworn enemy. But she couldn't find even the smallest bit that might've been blown off by her previous attack. She only found dirt and a little too much blood. This made her search more desperate which in turn made her careless enough to fall for a trick had already been used on her by not observing the shadows.

A small but strong hand gripped the back of her helmet and she was pushed off her feet. The world seemed to go into slow-motion as a strangely sincere voice whispered to her.

"Thank you."

Before she could react Anna's face was roughly shoved into the ground and her foe jumped into the air. Dirt and blood sipped into her helmet. Making it the most humiliating attack she had to endure tonight and thus the most infuriating, even if she had been hit by more powerful strikes.

With fury burning in her eyes Anna pushed herself up to her knees and turned around, ready to chase after. She never got a chance as ice-spike, about three times her size, smashed into her and buried her further into the pit.

* * *

Negi's eyes boggled at the sight in front of him.

She was somewhat hidden by the repeated dust clouds that had spewed up from the pit during the last fest seconds and her back was turned to him. But the young teacher easily recognised his magic teacher's short stature and flowing hair. Still being quite emotional from believing her to be dead just a few minutes ago he reacted like any one his age would.

"EVA-CHAN!" He screamed and ran towards her with the foolish intention of glomping her in happiness. Setsuna and Asuna followed him with slightly less emotional intentions.

The vampire stopped stretching and slowly turned around to face her comrades with an indifferent face.

Negi was inches from wrapping his arms around Evangeline when she suddenly and unceremoniously hit him in the face, sending him rolling back until he was caught up by Asuna.

The three stared at her with confused expressions as they saw how she looked at the moment.

Overall she didn't seem to have any injuries anymore but there were still large spots and trails of fresh blood on her body. And as they had been destroyed earlier she wasn't wearing any clothes at all. None of this seemed to bother the tiny vampire as she glared her angry teacher glare on all three warriors in front of her.

"What did I tell you to not do tonight?" She asked simply and waited. Her three juniors were too confused to answer and just looked at each other and back at her. Evangeline sighed and suddenly she was right in their faces. "You got involved with my fight. I clearly told you not to."

The trio gulped at her tone of voice. It was the tone of someone who would punish disobedient children. Normally they would've protested by now but their current confused and overly emotional state along with Evangeline's blood covered visage proved to overwhelming for them. Luckily the giant ice-spike was getting pushed out of the pit and required the vampire's attention.

Evangeline sneered. "If I wasn't so busy trying to survive here I would take care of all of you." She turned around to ice-spike when Negi found his wits again.

"Wait, master!" Evangeline glanced over at the boy. "Please, how did you survive? Not that I'm not happy to see you." At the same time the ice-spike suddenly exploded to a million tiny fragments and Anna leaped out of the pit and landed a few meters in front of Evangeline, who seemed strangely unfazed by it all.

"I don't know how you survived! But you cannot…"

"Ssh." Evangeline hissed as she held up a finger. There was such authority in her voice that Anna shut up immediately. "I'm about to tell the story behind my miraculous resurrection. Well, it's not that miraculous really, or a story."

She was silent for a moment to see if anyone would interrupt her. When no one spoke Evangeline began explaining.

"Throughout the last few decades I've come a bit too close to the great unknown called death a few too many times. So I built a, for lack of better words, safety net. I call it the Contract of Sacrifice." She paused, knowing the value of good drama. "Basically I've gathered blood from people I killed inside a pocket dimension. And let me tell you all something, I've killed a lot of people during those few decades." She glanced at Negi. "Until a certain smug red-head locked me inside these school grounds."

Negi flushed a little. He felt that he was being unjustly accused of something, and he was.

"But then again, I had sort of forgotten about it since I had never actually used it." She looked Anna straight in the eyes. "Until now that is. Congratulations Anna my girl. You've really become stronger since the first time you try to take your revenge upon me."

Anna tightened her fist and took a stance. "And that strength will be enough to kill you even if you've completely recovered."

Evangeline waved a hand dismissively at the spirit knight. "Don't worry about that. It's just my body that's been restored without injuries. I still feel the pain and fatigued from our confrontation." The vampire smirked. "Of course, you're in almost as bad shape as I am. The playing field is still even in my eyes."

Her eyes narrowed as a small wind kicked up around her when she started glowing with power. "Now then, story time is over. Let's settle this." She challenged Anna who shifted her feet to attack when a loud voice broke the mood.

"WAIT ONE MINUTE!" Asuna yelled at them, earning a dull look from Evangeline. "Do you really think that we're just going to let you wreck our school in your petty mega-fight?" Neither she nor Negi or Setsuna noticed when Evangeline blasted the ground in front of them.

"Actually we don't really care." The vampire responded. "Now…" She blurred away and appeared before Anna with a flying double kick aimed at the vengeful spirit's face. The attack caught Anna off guard and knocked her to the ground.

Evangeline then pushed Anna's head further into the ground by using it as a springboard to jump into the air. "…tag! You're it!" She shouted gleefully as she disappeared into the air. Anna wasted no time in getting up and hunting after her foe with blinding speed.

"ARRGGH!" Asuna screamed. "I'm going to get that little brat and…"

"Now, now Asuna. Young ladies should watch their mouths." Takahata said kindly while lowering the platform down to ground level. "Besides, you should be happy that Evangeline-san is still alive."

"For the moment." Chachazero added.

"Ignore her," Takahata said nonchalantly. "And get on. We've already seen this fight for so long. We might as well watch it to the end."

The trio complied, with Asuna muttering with a grumpy voice, and got on the platform, where an ecstatic Konoka glomped Setsuna while happily, and loudly, declaring that Evangeline was alive. Similar happy reactions rang out across the platform as it followed the warring fighters.

Only Chachazero seemed to be silently contemplating this turn of events. "_That's one major spell down and one to go. Are you ready to break your own rule, and quite a few other things, or are you still a big wuss._" She thought to herself in an overly dramatic fashion and smiled widely. "_This is more fun than I thought._"

* * *

"Aren't you curious?!" Evangeline asked while twisting in mid-flight to avoid a sword-slash from her pursuer.

"About what?!" Anna angrily shouted back as she chased after the vampire, who seemed to have gone for a more evasive fighting style than before as evidenced by the fact that she was still flying away from Anna.

"About what I said?" She shifted to the left to avoid a lightning bolt flung her way, "Why I thanked you." She flew downward and Anna gave chase. "It's really an interesting story!" Evangeline shouted.

Tired of her talking, Anna blasted forward with burs of speed to slam the blonde into the pavement. Before she could do that however, said blonde melted into the shadow the two made on the ground. The spirit knight didn't have any time to stop herself and hit the ground hard.

"Come on. I want to tell you." Evangeline continued while hovering above her opponent as if nothing had happened.

Anna sharply turned around and glared at her currently elusive target. "Be quiet and fight like a proper warrior you fiend!" She roared and produced a lightning sword in each hand. She launched herself at the vampire who just dropped down the ground.

"Fine, if you want to be that way." She said unabashed as Anna once again rushed her. The spirit knight went for slash that would cut Evangeline right down the middle if she hadn't suddenly blocked it with a sword of her own, this one being made out of ice that softly glowed blue. "I'll just have to tell you while we're doing this. How troublesome."

Anna screamed in fury and attacked with her remaining sword. It too was blocked as another ice sword materialised in Evangeline's free hand.

The two began an exchange of slashes and swipes that, as most of their duels, resulted in a wind being kicked up with them as the epicentre. The blonde vampire focused on dodging, blocking and countering while Anna pressed on a furious offence with little regard to defending herself. All the while, Evangeline spoke her mind.

"It was so dark. And I mean real dark. Not the kind of dark that shows up after light is taken away. But the kind of dark that scares away the light." She said conversationally while barely missing Anna's head as the spirit knight backed up a bit and then attacked again. "I was almost swallowed up by the whole thing and honestly, it scared me to begin with."

"Then I shall take great pleasure in sending you back!" Anna roared and followed up a failed swipe and Evangeline's mid-section with a stab at her head. The vampire merely tilted to the side and ignored the emotional outburst.

"Then I calmed down and remembered that I had been prepared for it ever since yesterday. I was ready to die and go to where I belong." She vaulted over Anna and tried a stab at her back. But her rival quickly spun around and struck the sword out of its path. "I've lived longer than most have a right to. My name is so famous that it would live on for much longer than myself. I even have a student to carry on the legacy of my spells. And to be fair," They locked each other in a pushing match. "I deserve to die."

Suddenly Evangeline exerted more force than before and actually forced Anna to jump back a fair distance just to avoid losing her balance. When she landed she could she the blonde staring at her with a wild expression.

"Despite all this, there was something keeping me here. Something that made the thought of dying apprehensive to me. At first I believed that I was just afraid of it. That I had gone soft from spending too much time with them." Here she nodded her head at the platform that was hovering high above them.

"But as I was sinking into the darkness I suddenly realised why I wanted to stay. And if you hadn't sent me into such a tight embrace with the grim reaper I wouldn't have figured it out. That's why I'm thanking you." Evangeline said with a mischievous grin.

Anna just stared at her with a confused expression. It looked like should couldn't come up with anything to say to that. So she just attacked the cucumber-calm vampire. It was a sloppy assault that Evangeline danced around and blocked with ease.

"You have no idea how close it was that I didn't come back." Evangeline said with a tense voice. "Then I saw the reason to crawl and tear myself back here. A wonderfully… selfish reason."

She jumped up, floated in the air and suddenly spun around vertically with her ice-swords stretched outward. Such an attack would normally just be ridiculous in a fight of this level, but the speed Evangeline used it with combined with Anna's current state of mind made it surprisingly effective. Mostly in confusing the spirit knight rather than hurting her, but it was enough for the vampire to sneak in a sharp kick to the side of Anna's head.

She was knocked to the ground with a crash and her swords disappeared. Evangeline assumed a sitting position in the air as she returned to her speech.

"I want to stay alive because there's a man that I wish to meet before I go." She said with a soft tone. "The only man I ever really cared for." Anna looked up at the vampire with genuine surprise in her eyes. "A man that I would follow across the entire world, even when he spurned me." There was a small crack in her voice at the end there.

The crack evolved into an ever escalating scream. "The same man that rewarded my efforts and advances by locking ME, Evangeline Athanasia Katherine McDowell up in a fucking school with nothing but a bunch of moronic teenagers and naïve, sissy do-gooders for company!" Anna wasn't even sure if the vampire was talking to her anymore.

"Before I die, I'm going to find you Nagi Springfield and kick your ass an hour for every day you've forced me to stay in this miserable place of sun-shine and lollipops!" She roared at the skies, as if that would help carry her words to the man known as the thousand master.

The blonde breathe heavily to let out all her frustration before regaining her composure and looking down at Anna again. "So yeah, thank you for making me realise that. In return I will help you in a similar way before I send you back to… wherever the hell you go after I kick your ass."

"Problem?" Anna said with a sharp whisper. "My only 'problem' is that you're still alive. And I plan on rectifying that momentarily." She stood up and reformed her lightning swords.

Evangeline cocked an eyebrow. "By fighting so amateurishly that I can actually talk while we're exchanging blows and pull of silly attacks with great success?" She questioned and Anna tensed up.

"Face it, something's changed about during the time I was knocked out. And I'm going to help you out of it." The vampire smiled in fake kindness.

Anna hesitated to answer and squirmed awkwardly where she stood. She had an idea what her archenemy was talking about. Of course, that didn't mean that she wanted to 'talk' about it. Much less so with Evangeline. So she responded in the only way that came naturally to her. She attacked the vampire with an aerial blitz.

Evangeline swiftly glided to the side and countered with a slash that struck the spirit knight in the side and actually sent her reeling. The ever present white vapour was beginning to spew out more than ever, causing Anna to panic.

"No, stop it. I need more time!" She screamed to no one in particular and barely deflected the vampire's attack on her neck from both sides.

Evangeline was enjoying herself immensely. "First, let me ask you a question." She kicked off of Anna's chest to put some distance between the two. "What were your parents' names? I've forgotten." Evangeline asked with a purposely silly expression as Anna almost caught up to her.

For just a moment Anna slowed down to answer with a defiant demand that the vampire stop talking. The moment dragged on to several more moments and during that interval Evangeline gleefully speed past the spirit knight and hit her with a double cross-slice that pebble-sized chinks of her armour flew off.

The blonde touched down on the ground elegantly seconds after Anna crashed into and remained there unmoving.

"Come on now. Your parents' names. Say them." Evangeline demanded impatiently.

"…quiet…"

"Hm, I didn't quiet hear that. It didn't sound like names to me." It was getting hard for her to conceal the mockery in her voice.

"Be… quiet…"

"Nope. You're going to have to speak a little lou…"

Anna smashed her fists into the pavement, kicked herself up and turned to her antagonizer, her eyes absolutely livid with hate. "I said, **BE QUIET!**" A windburst strong enough to make Evangeline take a step back kicked up in all direction with Anna as the epicentre. Even the world tree dropped a few leaves from the force of the scream, despite the great distance.

Evangeline had a surprised smirk on her face. "Now we're getting somewhere."

* * *

"I hate this thing." Asuna grunted as she pulled herself back onto her feet. The wind had shaken the platform and knocked everybody off balance. An occurrence that seemed to be happening more and more frequently.

"It does seem to be a lot less stable than what I had been led to believe when I purchased it." Chachamaru answered with a distracted voice. Even now she did her best to get a good a view as possible of her master's struggle.

The normal rabble began amongst the other teenagers as Chachazero suddenly floated by Chachamaru's ear.

"Hey," She whispered. "Has master ever told you about the dark god of destruction?"

Chachamaru's eyes widened. "Once." She whispered back. "And she was very adamant that it is a subject that should not be spoken off in any situation."

"Yep, that's the one." Chachazero said with a calm voice as she nodded sagely.

Suddenly her mouth formed a grin so large that it unnerved the robot. "50 bucks says that we'll see said god in about 15 minutes." The doll said with a wicked and amused voice.

If her head had been connected to her body, Chachamaru's spine would've shivered then and there. That is, if her spine could shiver.

* * *

Anna was seething with fury. And while it was Evangeline's fault, for once it wasn't the vampire's past actions that enraged Anna. It was that she actually seemed to understand the situation, maybe better than Anna herself who was still feeling conflicted. And she had the gall to use this knowledge to mock her.

"_Evil. Pure evil. I must not let her words distract me._"

"I hit a nerve, didn't I?" Evangeline taunted. "But I can't blame you."

"_Just don't listen to the evil monster. Your cause is just and you will not be…_"

"It can be difficult to remember things after spending over 200 years on nothing hating little old me. In this particular case it would be your parents' names." The smiling vampire was certain that she could see her opponent twitching with rage.

The vapour steamed out of Anna's cracked armour as she began breathing heavily. "I told you to be quiet." She growled.

Evangeline shrugged. "And yet, I keep talking. I guess that you're not demanding enough. But you've answered one question, now I have one more."

The vampire swiftly blocked Anna's new lightning blade as the spirit knight tried to blitz her again. "If you will not be quiet then I will rip apart your mouth before I finally slaughter you!"

With renewed hate Anna put enough force behind her sword to break through Evangeline's own blades. The blonde quickly vaulted backwards as the lightning sword passed above her nose with inches separating the two.

"_That's it, just a little more now._" The dark mage thought as she flew back quickly to avoid Anna, who by now looked more furious and desperate than ever before. "_Hopefully I'll survive to that point. Best just get to the centre of it._" She blasted upward, narrowly avoiding a sword swing that had so much force behind it that a fracture was torn up in the pavement beneath it.

"Here it comes!" Evangeline shouted as she threw up a hastily made shield that stopped the pursuing Anna briefly. "Do you know where you're going?!" She punctuated the sentence by blasting Anna to the ground with dual ice blasts. It took her a few moments to rip the ice apart, by that time she had mellowed down, a little.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked with a voice that was trying to calm itself down, not knowing that she had stepped into the exact spot where Evangeline wanted her.

"After all this is done." Evangeline said while floating to the ground. "Say you win and I die completely. Where will you end up? Heaven? Are you sure that they'll allow a person who does nothing but hate and fight in there?" A hesitant movement in Anna's cloudy eyes was the only hint that Evangeline needed.

"You're not certain at all, are you?" It was almost as if her voice floated through the air. "The hate and anger are still there. But the conviction is wavering. You don't know where this is taking you. For confident people like us that think they know their own world to the final letter, not knowing something will mess us up more than we'd like to admit. And really, not knowing if you're going to get rewarded or punished for committing 250 years of death to killing one person much be a real bitch." The doll master's voice suddenly turned softer. "Let me guess. Killing me wasn't all that it was cracked up to be?"

For a few minutes the only sound that could be heard was that of an anxious wind blowing through the ruined city.

"I felt elated at first. But then it was as if there was an emptiness surrounding me. I should've been happy with my accomplishment but there was nothing in it that made me feel like the victor."

Evangeline restrained a smile. "_Yes! Keep going like that. Maybe I can finally be rid of you this way._"

"Instead I felt as if it had all been pointless. As if killing you didn't mean anything." Anna continued with a solemn voice.

"_Ok, ok. Now wrap it up and we can both go on with our… whatever it is we have._" Evangeline thought while nodding calmly.

"But," Anna said with a questioning voice. "Then again, you didn't really die."

The vampire's eyes couldn't get any wider. "_What?_"

"By your own admission you were only on the brink of death. But you never actually died." The spirit knight's voice grew in assuredness. "Of course. That's why everything felt so wrong. I was celebrating a false victory."

Evangeline blinked. "_Crap._"

"And now you are trying to deceive me and get into my head. You've realised that my power is superior and you're trying to get me to give up without a fight. To think that the monster is a coward as well."

Evangeline's eye twitched and a small vein showed in self on her forehead. "_The lies people will believe to make themselves feel happy are incredibly annoying._"

"Ok, listen to what…"

"No." Anna interrupted abruptly. "No more talks. I will not allow your heinous lies to cloud my mind anymore."

The vein on Evangeline's forehead pulsed. "_Could she at least not talk like that? One more try._"

"Look, you still don't remember…" She halted herself and jumped into the air to avoid the lightning bolt that blasted the ground below her. "Ok, screw that. I'm going to kill you now… or whatever it is I do when… you know what I mean!"

The two rushed at each other and simultaneously threw punches that crossed one-another. Naturally due to the difference in length Evangeline's strike barely had time to nick the side of Anna's helmet before she herself was sent flying back with a bloody nose.

"_Crap, I got careless._" The vampire's thoughts didn't get much further than that as Anna had caught up with her and kick her high into the air. She used the momentum from being launched like that to blast away from Anna and gain some distance from the pursuing knight.

"_She's still stronger than I am, possibly a little faster as well. And even damaged her armour is a better defence than… well, my naked body. Maybe I should try… SHIT!_"

Distracted by her planning and glancing back at Anna Evangeline had failed to notice that she was flying towards a certain platform with a certain group of meddling people that she wished weren't present. She was moving to fast for them to avoid her and Anna was catching up.

Hesitating just a little bit the vampire sharply turned around, came to a screeching halt right in front of the platform and right back at Anna. Several of the onlookers could've sworn that she mutter 'I can't believe I'm doing this.'

Due to her opponents unexpected actions Anna was too puzzled to counter getting Evangeline's right elbow slammed into her shielded face. The tiny vampire stuck to Anna like glue and continuously struck at her with claw-like blows that sent the two of them crashing into the street below.

Evangeline did not stick around for long in the new crater and flew into the sky at breakneck speeds; swiftly follow by Anna who matched her prey's flight course to a T.

They dived into the city and zigzagged, turned and twisted and just zipped around the place so fast that they tore up the ground if they flew to close to it.

Anna was rapidly gaining on Evangeline, and the vampire knew it. But she didn't let it bother her and instead focused on concealing the light blue, almost white, energy glowing in her hands while she chanted.

"The Cold Hell Dimension lends me Strength." She shifted to the right, avoiding a lightning spear which blew up the side of a popular bookstore. Next she turned a corner that ended in a dead-end. Evangeline did not halt.

"The Chill that Swallows the Warmth." Just as she was about to smash into the wall Evangeline flew straight up as high as she could. Anna followed persistently.

"Glacial Statue!" She turned around, held out her left hand and braced it with her right. A beam of energy, the same colour as the one she had been hiding. The air around it seemed to freeze into icy flakes.

At the same time Anna managed to throw one last lightning spear before trying to form her wings into a protective dome. This time however she was too slow. The ice spell hit her chest dead-centre and froze her completely. Not in a giant slab of ice, but in a way that made it appear as if Anna's entire essence had been turned to an elegant ice-statue.

The spirit knight fell from the skies looking like a porcelain-doll.

Evangeline on other resembled a rag-doll after the lightning spear hit her right shoulder. He body convulsed and smouldered as she twisted in pain while falling before smashing through the glass ceiling of an exclusive restaurant.

She pushed away the broken tables and glass while breathing heavily.

"_Ok, I accept it. There's only one way I'm going to beat her so let's get started._"

* * *

"Did anyone see where they went?" Haruna asked while trying to locate the two combatants who zipped away from the group with a speed that they just couldn't follow.

"There were some explosions in the east side, and now it's quiet. I suggest that we investigate that part." Setsuna asserted and Takahata moved the platform according to her instructions.

A small smile adorned Negi's face. "Master saved us, sort of. She could've done something much easier than to tackle Anna again. But she didn't. She…"

"Flew back into the fight, risking her own life to bladiblahblahBLAH!" Chachazero sort of quoted. "We heard you the first five times kid. No need to repeat it AGAIN!" She growled. "My one night out in months and she has the nerve to make the fight hard to follow after."

The others had learned to ignore Chachazero's grumblings and focused on finding the knight and vampire.

"I see one of them!" Yue alerted the others and they moved over to her. Down below they could see Anna's frozen body laying awkwardly on the ground with it's legs pointing up in the air.

"Where's master?" Chachamaru asked, unconcerned about the spirit knight.

Before anyone could answer her it felt as though the air rumbled as a bright blue light shined from the broken ceiling of a restaurant that none of them had the money to eat at.

Almost the exact next instant after that a lightning-bolt shoot up from where Anna was. The platform's crew was blinded and when their vision returned Anna was floating next to them, melted ice dripping from her. Worse than that, she was glaring at them.

"Where is she?" She demanded coldly.

Defiant in the face of a threat to their friend the group was about to tell the imposing figure something rather crude. A cheerful voice cut them all off before they could even speak.

"The tall building with a hole in the roof and lights coming out of it." Chachazero said with eagerness. As Anna flew to the revealed location the doll shouted after her. "Have fun!"

Hands grabbed onto Chachazero's little shoulders, lifted her and turned her around to face an angered group of teenage girls. "Why did you that?!" They simultaneously screamed. The doll didn't even blink.

"Because she asked me to." She said with an all-knowing grin. "Because she couldn't find her and there's only one thing in my master's vast arsenal that could produce such an effect." She glanced down where Anna was preparing to bombard the restaurant. "Because the final act is about to begin."

As if on cue the first lightning spear blew up a portion of the restaurant. Within seconds the barrage reduced the entire building into rubble in front of the eyes of the seven students and two teachers. With the dust clouds obscuring their view they could only Anna's outline descending towards what looked like a swirling mini vortex where the restaurant had been. Then they saw the outline bounce off the mini vortex.

* * *

Anna twisted so that she landed with her feet first on the rubble. She had attacked the first thing that moved in the destroyed building, and it had struck her away. Or rather, she had been thrown back by a simple but powerful centrifugal force. Suddenly the fact that her ability to find the hated vampire didn't work wasn't the only thing that was wrong in the situation.

And the air seemed to experience a momentary instability along with a white glow coming from the vortex.

Narrowing her eyes Anna let out a short burst of energy that dispersed any distracting dust. The sight before her was quite odd.

The naked Evangeline was floating a little above the ground. Surrounding her was a black see-through forcefield that rotated at a presumably very fast pace. In front of her there were two orbs of energy the size of footballs. One was an icy blue with a frosty aura surrounding it and the other was pure white with tiny flame like bursts all over. The vampire had her eyes closed and was talking, chanting probably Anna reasoned, but no sound came out of the spinning bubble.

Annoyed with this new development and cautious about what her opponent was doing Anna decided to act at once. She pulled her arms back as lightning energy gathered in her hands and then thrust them forward. Two giant lightning bolts blasted out of her hands and struck the swirling orb dead on. They were deflected away easily.

Evangeline opened her eyes, the light had caught attention, and smiled wickedly at the flabbergasted spirit knight. She said a few more words and a purple light almost exploded in front of her before compressing itself into an orb of dark and twisting energy. Once again, the air seemed to shake.

She placed the dark orb next to the others, with the white one in the middle and the blue one to the left, and had them hover stilly in front of her.

Anna didn't like the calmness that had appeared in Evangeline's features. They made light of the situation. With a thunderous fury Anna attacked the forcefield with a punch that would destroy entire buildings. It harmlessly slid off thanks to the rotation, which made Anna trip fall into the forcefield and was once again thrown back by it.

Humiliated and angry, she sharply turned to face the protected vampire who just shook her head and gave Anna a look that a wise old grandma would give her granddaughter. Then she stretched out her arms to the sides and spoke again, but this time she seemed to emphasize what she was saying because Anna could read her lips perfectly. It was only one word.

Run.

Suddenly Evangeline smashed the three orbs together with her hands and a twister of white, blue and purple energy blasted out from her position, smashing the forcefield apart as if it had been paper.

In the face of the sight before her Anna suddenly felt very small and dirty as she suddenly became aware of all the dirt and blood stains that covered her once pristine armour along with all the cracks and broken off chinks. But more than that. She felt afraid. Very afraid.

And she wasn't alone in that feeling either.

Up on the platform chills ran down everybodies' spines and a few of them jumped slightly out of pure shock as they felt a dark wave pass them by. All over Mahora the sleeping population shifted nervously and trembled as their dreams for a moment took a turn for the worse. Even the protective magic fields that covered most of the remaining buildings flickered nervously and wondered if there wasn't safer location they could shield right now.

Bracing herself, Anna was prepared for anything. At least she hoped so. She didn't have time to think it over when the twister seemed to be pulled down into its place of origin. As if someone was sucking it in.

Before long the twister was entirely drawn in to the spot at which point a burst of air exploded from it.

Anna couldn't look away at the same time as she wanted to avert her eyes to something less imposing.

Evangeline stood on the ground she had previously floated over. Except now, she had gone through a radical change. Her skin was black as coal with strange white markings covering her entire body. Her hair had gone from blonde to a light grey tone. Around her was a dark blue aura that Anna could feel was as cold as space. Lastly, her fists were surrounded by small masses of light that were constantly shifting form.

The vampire's face bore no expression whatsoever. She just locked eyes with Anna for several minutes during which even the wind seemed to afraid to move. Then, slowly and anciently, the vampire's lips curved into a smile.

It wasn't a jovial smile, or an arrogant one, or a challenging one. It was a purely, 100% evil smile that forced Anna to fight her instincts to run for her life.

Evangeline took one step forward and suddenly Anna was hit on the side of her head with a blow so powerful that it tore the mouth guard off from her helmet. Before she could even process what had happened another blow struck her right side, shattering that part that she had mended earlier and burying her into the ground.

Once again she didn't even have time to move before she was ripped up by a dark hand and thrown a few decimetres into the air. Before she touched down on the ground a third blow struck her chin in an upward motion. The force behind it knocked her helmet off completely, Anna was almost surprised that her head didn't go along with it, and launched the spirit knight high into the air.

As she was starting to understand why the stars looked like they were closer than usual a blur appeared above her and Anna could feel what she later summarised to be a kick to her head blast her down again.

She crashed into a street corner, making all nearby cars topple over from the force of the impact. Her spiritual body ached unlike ever before. The pain ran so deeply that she almost fainted a few times before stiffly rising up from the newest crater. It was quiet all around except for the large parts of her armour breaking off and falling to the ground. To top it all off, patches of the armour was covered in ice, making it difficult to move and easier to break.

"I told you to run."

Anna reflexively spun around, formed a lightning sword in her left hand and slashed at the voice coming form behind her. She hit nothing but air. Less than a second after that a now familiar blow smashed right through the armour's back and sent her flying down the street. When she was halfway through it she was smacked back down to the ground.

With excruciating effort she pushed herself up on her arms and looked up. Evangeline was standing right in front of her and looking down with the same evil smile as before. Her visage distorted by the light of the stars looking down on them.

"What are you?" Anna asked with a strained voice.

"I'm still me." Evangeline said with an almost childish voice. "You've just forced my hand. This is the result of my own creation. I call it Magia Erebea, and this form specifically I've dubbed the Dark God of Destruction. You can probably understand why. Imagine the combined power of an ice-spell powerful enough to kill a demon-god, a darkness spell designed to eradicate armies and a pure force spell that can lay waste to cities. It's all distributed throughout my body. But I'm still the same." Not moving an inch besides her right arm so fast that Anna didn't even see it happen, Evangeline caught the star-shroud as it tried to lash out at the vampire.

"Well," Evangeline continued as if nothing had happened. "I might be a little bit crueller." Ice was spreading over the edge of the star-shroud as it tried to pull itself away from the grip. Evangeline used the star-shroud to haul the spirit knight over her head and repeatedly slammed her to the street and super-speeds while cackling like an insane child at Christmas. Then she finished it off by tossing Anna through a car.

Disoriented by the rough treatment Anna didn't have a chance to defend herself as a small but cold and powerful hand closed around her throat and lifted her into the air. Ice began to spread from across her throat.

"Let's have a look at you." The vampire said with mock interest while examining her opponent as they floated higher and higher into the air.

Without the helmet one could see Anna's features clearly. She had a pretty, thin face with a small nose and short unkempt hair. Of course, being a spirit it looked as though she was made up entirely of solid white energy.

"Well, look at that. You're exactly the same as that day. Only you're shining now, and leaking it would seem." Evangeline referred to the white vapour that, as she could now see, was emitting from Anna's body. "But otherwise," The vampire said with a low voice. "You're still the same." She caught Anna's right hand as the spirit knight tried to hit herself loose. Ice spread over the now captured arm and Evangeline once again didn't seem to notice that anything had happened.

"Still all alone and angry. Still completely helpless to do anything but glare and shout at me." The overwhelming dark power that Evangeline was emitting along with the asswhupping that she'd received had a paralysing effect on Anna. She could barely get herself to move. But the taunting had a rather different effect. "250 years of hate and you've achieved nothing. Man you're worthless." It was pissing her off.

"Get." Her eyes glowed brighter. "Away." Her entire armour glowed with lightning energies." From." The ice growing on her began to crack. "ME!" A gigantic lightning blast discharged in all directions from her body. It was powerful enough to actually knock the empowered vampire away from her.

Not wasting a second Anna's formed her wings on the back and charged towards her adversary. A lightning sword in each hand and an energy being released from her entire being that was furious enough to knock out lesser men. She was within breathing distance of the vampire when she decided to cut her in half.

In that same instant she was unceremoniously hit in the face and sent rocketing to the streets below. Evangeline let out a short laugh and followed.

Anna destroyed the stairs leading into a museum when she crashed into them. But she swiftly forced herself up. Determined to not be defeated so easily, or at all. More armour fell off, this time around her right shoulder, as she noticed Evangeline elegantly touching down a few blocks away, challenging Anna.

The spirit knight instantly complied and launched her wings. As soon as they shifted into sharp and burning arrows Evangeline dashed towards them while smiling. She danced between the arrows effortlessly while moving slowly enough for Anna to see her to it.

Not caring about the assault failing Anna summoned the arrows to fly back again, hoping to strike Evangeline's blind side. Apparently it didn't work as Evangline spun around and made a sweeping motion with her left arm which sent out a wave of pure force that shattered all the arrows. She continued to turn around until she faced Anna's direction again, this time firing a thin black beam at the spirit knight from her right hand.

Anna crossed her arms and summoned back the stars from the shattered arrows. They managed to convene and form the protective dome around her just before the black beam hit. For a few seconds it seemed as though the dome would hold against the pressure. Then it cracked and a small hole was punched through it. Anna did an admirable job of trying to dodge the beam but it cut a large gnash through the left side of her armour before she could completely evade it. She lost her balance and fell to the ground.

She knew that the vampire would be upon her sooner than she could imagine. So she forced herself up and instinctually threw a punch with all her weight behind it along with enough electric energy to destroy a battleship. To her astonishment she actually the vampire in the gut and made her double over.

But any happiness that she might have over this success was quickly extinguished when she felt a cold hand grab onto her extended arm.

"Ok, I take it back." Evangeline said with a smirk. "You have changed a little. I mean, it's not everybody who becomes strong enough to force me into using this form. Especially since I've forbidden this magic from actually being used. Bravo. You've made me break one of my own rules."

Her smirk grew into a full-on smile again. "But you're still pathetic." She pulled the spirit knight in closer and delivered a bone-crushing to her face. "There's been no deception this night!" She punched Anna in the face again. "You can't remember your parents." And again. "You don't know what's going to happen to you after this!" And again. "You decided to hate me all these years without thinking what it might mean!" And again, and again and so many times more that both of them lost count.

Finally she let go of Anna's arm and punched her into the air with a slashing movement that split open the chest piece of Anna's armour. The spirit knight once again flew through the air, smashing the edge of the museum's roof as she did so, and was then caught by Evangeline who smashed the two of them into the ground a few meters away from the world tree.

Anna felt Evangeline jump away from her. As she stood up once again she saw her hated enemy standing 10 meters away from her in a pose that could be either relaxed or tired.

"That's how it is." Evangeline said with a final tone. "What do you want to do now?"

It was impressive that even with a largely shattered and dirty armour Anna still managed to look strangely dignified as she met Evangeline's hard gaze.

"I've come here to kill you for ruining my life or die trying." Anna said as electricity sparked around her right arm. "That is all I need to know right now." She held her right arm in Evangeline's direction as the electricity grew in intensity.

Evangeline chuckled. "While you are a misguided I have to tell you that I admire your determination."

"Let's just finish this." Anna said indifferently.

"Fair enough." Evangeline answered and the darkness covering her body seemed to gather in her right arm.

* * *

"I can't believe that she used Magia Erebea." Asuna muttered nervously while looking for any sign of Evangeline and her opponent.

"I can't believe that it took her so long to use it." Chachazero countered to deaf ears.

"It was scary when she did it." Yue contributed to what Asuna had said. "I just wanted to run away when she used it." She muttered with a shamed voice.

"Don't worry, you're not the only one." Kasumi offered and shuddered at the memory of the feeling that had gripped most of them earlier.

"It was completely different from Negi-sensei's." Haruna said with an analysing voice. "Both in power and in sensation."

"Not that there's anything wrong with Negi-sensei's…" Nodoka quickly jumped in, seeing Negi's solemn frame. But he interrupted her.

"Don't worry, I understand." He assured her while looking after the two combatants. In truth he too had been somewhat awed by the display his master had put on.

He recounted Chachazero's explanation of the form called Dark God of Destruction. "_Force magic for increased attack power, ice for defensive strength and a freezing touch, darkness to further empower all physical attributes as well as adding the mark of darkness on all her spells. Incredible, to think that master could absorb three such high-level spells at once and distribute them like that. I still have a way to go._"

"I can see them!" Konoka shouted, knocking Negi out of his thoughts and he hurried over to her part of the platform. "There, those two lights have to be them right?" The healer said eagerly and Negi nodded.

They could see Anna and Evangeline standing with a short distance between them. Their right arms glowing with electricity and darkness, if that makes any sense, respectively.

"What are they doing?" Nodoka asked.

"They're gathering their remaining energies to finish the fight." Chachamaru said with an unfocused voice. At the same time Anna's electricity formed a giant lance that was so big that she was holding it so much as it surrounded her arm. Evangeline actually had to take a short step back so that it did touch her then and there.

For the vampire in question a ball of black and white mass of swirling energies the size of a medicine-ball covered her right hand, besides that she looked as she usually did.

"This is not good." Takahata said out loud. "Not good at all." Down below Anna's star-shroud dispersed into the hundred tiny stars that it was made up of and they extended into light poles before flying into the lightning lance, adding their power to Anna's.

Takahata looked over at Negi and Setsuna. "You two, formed a protective barrier around us. As strong as you can make it and with as many layers as possible. I'm taking us away from here."

"What?!" Negi asked out loudly. "Why, we just got here and…"

"We're too close!" Takahata yelled with a voice of desperation that Negi had never heard him use. "Just do as I say!" He started steering the platform away while the lance began shrinking back into her arm, coalescing all the energy into her right fist.

"Wait!" Chachamaru screamed from Konoka's arms. "What about master?" She asked with a concerned voice as Negi and Setsuna formed barriers around them all.

"Whatever happens it is her own decision." Takahata said sincerely as they flew away.

Chachamaru stared back in horror at the two warriors as they rushed each other with their right fists pulled back and ready for the final strikes. She was able to zoom in on them with her telescope capabilities of her eyes. Her master didn't hold any fear or regret in her face. Just a calm yet excited expression illuminated by the dark magic at her disposal.

Anna's face on the other showed nothing but a steely determination. An expression that Chachamaru had often seen in her teacher's face whenever he fought for others.

Just when they were about to throw their fists it seemed as though time stopped just long enough for Chachamaru to hear her senior speak up.

"This is going to be fun." And then the fists and the massive energies contained within them collided.

The blast was enormous to say the least. It completely engulfed the vampire and spirit knight and would've covered the majority of the world tree had it not been for magical barriers powered by the tree's core.

The rest of Mahora wasn't that lucky. Stray beams of light and dark burst out from it and destroyed whatever was unfortunate to come in their paths. The barriers that still remained across the area shattered almost instantly along with the majority of the windows. The buildings nearest to the blast collapsed from the pressure of the shockwave. Benches, street-lights, cars, trees etc was lifted off the ground and blown across the streets.

At ground zero the biggest crater of the entire fight was excavated as a huge blob of clashing energies pushed against each other in a battle for dominance.

The platform was blown away like a leaf when the barriers were destroyed and it was only thanks to some quick spells from Negi that everybody was restrained to the platform and able to stay on, except for Asuna who was unaffected by the spell and forced to hold onto the platform's railing.

Amidst the chaos the lone voice of a cheerful and pretty sadistic little doll could be heard shouting. "WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

Just as sudden as it had begun the blast that would be called a 'freak disaster event' ended when the dark energies pushed the light into the ground and clobbered it mercilessly.

Anna was on her knees and her left hand was the only thing that stopped her from stooping lower than that. Except for her left gauntlet and leg-guards her armour hand been completely destroyed. Even more prominently was that where her right arm used to be was now nothing but a steady trail of white vapour.

She was breathing heavily and barely dared to look up. All around her a steamy smoke had appeared and it was hard to see anything in front of her. When she finally did look up it was with hope in her eyes.

"Did… did I do… it? Did I win?" She asked no in particular.

The answer came in the form of a icy-blue hand breaking through the smoke and grabbing her face.

"No, you did not." Evangeline said casually as she revealed herself. Her right arm was burned badly and her patches of skin where entirely missing from her body. Overall she looked like hell but still confident and ready for a fight"And you really should've remembered that I had three giant spells ready."

She waited for a few seconds to give the spirit knight some time to reply. Anna said nothing but glared with an exhausted expression at the vampire who decided to really end it.

"This is called a 'headshot' in the gaming world. COSMIC CATASTROPHE!"

Ice magic showered over the spirit knight's face and in an instant she was frozen solid within a mountain of spiked icicles that was just as large as the world tree.

Evangeline sharply turned around and snapped with her fingers. On cue the ice-mountain fell to tiny pieces, breaking everything inside of it.

Evangeline stumbled forward. "_There, it's done. Finally I can…_"

"AHHHHHHH!" Just as Evangeline turned around in disbelief to face the screamer she was punched across the face with an electrified left fist that sent her skidding across the ground and leaving another burn-scar on her right cheek.

In pain but not defeated the vampire stood up and glared at Anna, who was now as naked as the vampire.

They glared while letting out heavy breathing. "I'm more tired than I ever thought possible." The vampire muttered. "But if you're still up for this then I'm game."

With her remaining hand still tightly fisted Anna almost shook with anger as vapour was being expelled from her entire body. She looked down and as if to inspect something and then she calmed down.

Confused, Evangeline looked down at the same spot and understood what was going on. Anna was beginning to fade away starting at her feet.

The two locked eyes one final time. Anna's filled with anger. Evangeline's filled with exhaustion and relief.

There was an uncomfortable silence as Anna's for gradually faded away. When the effect had reached her stomach Evangeline spoke up with an uncertain voice.

"Good try this time."

Anna just glared at her and didn't answer until nothing but her neck and above was still present.

"I hate you so very much."

"Yeah." Evangeline answered. "I probably would too."

And then, just like that, the wind carried away the last piece of Anna into the sky and away to wherever it is that she goes to.

Evangeline let out a soft sigh.

"_It's over. I can finally let it go._"

She closed her eyes and heard the scrambling noises of the fight's spectators closing in and calling her name.

The vampire didn't even try to respond. Instead she just stopped forcing her body to remain whole and slipped into a peaceful state of unconsciousness. Wounds all over her body opened up all at once and blood sprayed out of them as she fell forward. Negi and the others screamed with fear as the vampire hit the ground with a soft thud and her own blood created a sticky mess.

They rushed to her aid and did what they could for her. She would survive.

In their stressed state of minds none of them notice that despite her battle worn and bloodied form with dishevelled hair, Evangeline was smiling peacefully.

_**To be concluded…**_


	5. Contentment

**Author's notes**: And so here we are at the conclusion. It's just an epilogue and a way for me to put a final dot on the things I've done with this story. A story that I've had great fun writing and I hope that you guys had great fun reading. When you do review this chapter please tell me what you thought of the fic as a whole as well.

Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed this fic. Until next time, bye bye.

* * *

**Contentment**

Blink.

"_White. I'm in a white room._"

Blink.

"_There are other things here. They're making annoying noises. Beeping noises._"

Blink.

"_At least I'm in a bed. That's nice. Nice is good._"

Blink.

"_Ugh. I'm stiff. And itchy. And my head hurts. So I'm alive then._"

She opened her eyes. The world slowly refocused into something coherent that she could gaze over with her eyes.

She was in a hospital room, she'd figured as much, and the sun was shining in through her window, annoying her unused eyes for a few moments. She felt bandages covering the large majority of her body and a hospital gown.

At first she thought that she was alone and sighed with relief. The last thing she wanted was to socialise while in this weakened state. Then an annoying voice called out to her.

"Good morning master!" Chachazero said a bit too loudly, as was her intention. "Though, it's more like early midday. But you know, it's the thought that counts."

Evangeline slowly turned her head to glare at the inanimate but living doll that had been put in a sitting position on a bedside table.

"Why are you here?" The vampire asked, trying to sound intimidating but failing due to having a hoarse throat.

"Unofficially I'm here to keep an eye on you while the wimps can't. Officially however," Here the doll grinned teasingly. "I'm here to make sure that Eva-chan feels safe by having her favourite toy present when she wakes up!" Chachazero roared with laughter at Evangeline's stupefied expression.

"What? What are you talking ab… Stop it. Stop laughing. SHUT UP AND TELL ME WHAT'S HAPPENED! OW!" Screaming orders wasn't all that healthy in Evangeline's current state.

Eventually Chachazero calmed down and started explaining things. "You've been unconscious for three days. The princess healed you about three times before they thought it was safe to move you. A hospital room for you and a cover story was prepared. Most of the buildings are still destroyed but the rest of the damages have almost all been fixed through magical means." She talked as if counting down a list.

"Uh huh." Evangeline groaned a little after realising how unimportant it all was to her. "What's the cover story?" She asked with minor interest.

"They were testing out robots for the end of this year's school festival. The robots malfunctioned a lots of stuff blew up." The tone in her voice showed how silly Chachazero found that explanation to be.

"And people bought that?" Chachazero nodded. "Hmph, idiots. Now, I'm tired so I'm going to sleep a little more. Just answer me one more thing."

"Sure thing master."

"What the hell is that?" Chachazero looked in the direction Evangeline pointed at and her grin grew twice in size.

"That's just your various get well and thank you presents that your-airhead classmates sent you." The doll restrained herself from further laughter as Evangeline's face scowled at the large heap of gifts.

Presents of various shapes and sizes were piled up in a large heap at the end of the vampire's bed. She could make out one shaped like a teddy bear, a few piles of books with pretty red band wrapped around them, some large boxes she hoped was new gaming systems. But the most prominent one was a life-sized statue of her with a triumphant expression as she was petting a grateful looking Negi.

"Ok, I'm not complaining about that one. But why is it here and how the hell did they construct it in three days or less?"

"The riche, blonde bimbo really does work fast doesn't she." Chachazero agreed with an impressed voice as she looked over the statue. "As for what it represents. Another part of the cover story is that the brat was assaulted by hoodlums and you saved him with your own safety at risk. That's why you're in the hospital. Naturally they wanted to show their gratitude and support for ya. Nice, don't you think?"

Evangeline's face was contorting in a confused mix of anger, surprise, doubt and gratitude. She didn't get the chance to decide on one emotion because chattering voices could be heard from the corridor outside. They were getting closer.

"…saying that she already has more gifts than I've ever got. Even on my birthdays." The vampire heard Asuna complain light-heartedly.

"If you ever end up in a hospital-bed because you saved Negi-sensei and it's turned into the talk of the town we'll give you all the presents you want." Kasumi teased to which Asuna muttered something Evangeline couldn't hear.

"Ssh. Please keep it down." Negi nervously told the two as he turned the doorknob. "We're supposed to be quiet and…" The teacher stopped in mid-sentence as he entered the room and saw that his master was staring at him with bored eyes.

Behind the boy Evangeline could see all the girls that had followed along with him on the platform, including a reassembled Chachamaru, who was carrying a large bag. They all had the same astonished expressions when they met Evangeline's eyes. "What? Is it that incredible to believe that I've recovered?" The vampire asked, slightly annoyed.

"EVA-CHAN!" Negi and Konoka screamed at the top of their lungs as they lunged at the now terrified vampire. Their intentions obvious.

"No. No! Get back! AAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The combined glomping from both the excited youngsters really did hurt the soar vampire who swiftly knocked the offenders away from her. Of course, moving in that way just caused her to feel even more pain. Which in turn made quite a few of her present classmates panic and the whole situation turned into a chaotic mess.

Once it had been sorted out Evangeline was back in her bed listening to the usual talk about how worried they had been for her and how cool she had been during the fight. She missed when the only sound in the room was the annoying beeping noises.

"I mean, I've never seen you fight like that Evangaline-san." Setsuna said with a genuinely impressed voice as she remembered the battle. "The power and skill you posses truly puts the rest of us to shame."

"I wouldn't say that." Asuna protested. "But yeah, you're really something else." She added quickly.

"Uh huh."

"Hey, would you mind if we opened up a few of these packages for you?" Kasumi asked brightly as she and the library girls fingered a few of the presents from the pile.

"Go ahead. It'll be nice to see what presents I got to celebrate the battle between me and the lost soul of an orphan." A dark and awkward silence instantly settled over the room.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I ruin the mood?" She asked sarcastically. "Please, don't mind me. Go ahead and pretend that everything is nice everywhere and…"

"Please, Evangeline-chan!" Konoka suddenly said out loud, stopping the vampire's rant. "We're happy that you made it out alive this time. Is there really such a problem with that?" Her voice was so sincere that it made the vampire blink in hesitation, allowing for Nodoka to jump in as well.

"We aren't blind to the things you've done. We just see the good that you've done as our friend as well. That has to count for something." Evangeline still didn't quite know what to say.

"They're right master. You're our friend and you've done so much for all of us. Is it really a problem that we see you as a good person?" Negi said with a genuine smile.

Evangeline sighed and leaned into her pillow. "I guess not."

The gathering smiled. "So what do you say?" Asuna said cheerfully. "Put the whole evil thing behind you for now and dig into these presents?"

At first Evangeline didn't answer. She just looked down so that they couldn't see her eyes. Then she looked up. Her evil smirk caused a few of her classmates to shiver.

"No. I will not forget it. Not for a day or a moment or anything." She said with her usual confident voice. "You're right. I have been doing nice things for all of you. But like I said before. None of that changes what I've done before. I'm still evil, but I'm also still good. In short, I'm me. And if there's anything that I've learned from this whole experience it's to never lose sight of that. With that said, get out of my room. I'm tired and you're all boring me." She leaned into her pillow again and stretched her arms into the air as she smirked at the confounded youngsters leaving her room.

"That was a weird speech." Yue muttered, for fear of the vampire hearing her, once they had left the room.

"Yeah." Haruna agreed. She then asked. "Should we have told her that the principal expects her to pay for 50% of the damages done to the school?"

"I'd rather not be the person to tell her that, and I don't want to put any of you in such a dangerous situation." Negi said as they exited the hospital for a brand new day.

Back in her room Evangeline was trying to decide whether she should order something to eat or just go back to sleep when she noticed that her room still wasn't completely empty of guests.

"Aren't you going to go with the others Chachamaru?" She asked.

The robot shook its head. "No master, I would prefer to stay by your side for awhile." Evangeline couldn't stop herself from forming a tiny smile for a second.

"Ok, it's your choice. Then get me some food please. And none of that hospital crap. Some food from a restaurant, assuming that I left them all standing. But a blood-bag would be nice." She didn't notice that Chachamaru had dropped the bag gently to the floor and was approaching Evangeline's bed.

"Certainly master, in due time." The robot said, earning a raised eyebrow from her master, who now noticed how close they were to each other.

"No, I want it now and hey…" The vampire was suddenly pulled into a surprisingly gentle hug by the robot.

"Master, please don't ever do that again." Chachamaru said with a mix of concern and strictness without letting go of the hug.

"Do what?" Evangeline asked with an awkward voice, to surprised to really do anything.

"Go into a battle of such magnitude without me." The hug tightened a little. "I am your servant and battle partner. I know who you are and what you have done and I like that person. I want to be there for you no matter what. So please, never exclude me like this again." She said with more feeling than Evangeline thought she was capable off.

The vampire caved in easier than expected. "Ok. Next time, if you still want to at that point, you'll be by my side." Chachamaru let go of the hug.

"Thank you, master." The robot said quietly.

"And thank you, Chachamaru." Evangeline responded. She then quickly tried to change subject before the awkwardness spread too much. "What's in the bag?"

"A pair of red fishnet-pantyhose, a purple gown and a black mourning veil, along with several other outfits that you have recently purchased." Chachamaru answered with her usual monotone voice. Evangeline's eyes widened. "I figured that you would want some entertainment while you ate." The robot continued. Her master's large grin showed that she had made the correct assumption.

"Excellent." The vampire whispered. "Then go, get me some food, and a blood-bag, and come back quickly so that we can get this party started."

Chachamaru bowed and left the room. Evangeline smiled widely as she leaned back with her eyes closed and her arms as support.

"Oh dear, have you already gone soft on me again?" Chachazero asked but was thoroughly and professionally ignored.

It didn't matter what anybody said or thought about her. Evangeline Athanasia Katherine McDowell knew exactly who she was and she liked being that person. That's all that mattered.

Of course, it was nice that at least one other person like her as well.

* * *

_She was used to being angry. Being angry wasn't her problem. It was all the other feelings that were the problem. She wasn't used to them and they got in the way of the anger. Especially the feeling that she was missing out on something._

_They frightened her and she didn't know what to do with them. Or rather, she had an idea. But that would mean admitting that the person she hated was right and… and…_

_And maybe just for a minute or two Anna would focus on remembering instead of hating._

_**The End.**_


End file.
